by Jay Therrell, Conference Superintendent

[Note: This is the text of the sermon I shared during the service of Holy Communion on Friday night at our annual conference gathering.]

JUNE 25, 2025

..In 1960, Egypt began construction of the Aswan High Dam across the Nile River. Ten years later, it was opened in 1970 and still operates today. It had two main goals: to help regulate the Nile River from flooding and to produce enormous amounts of energy. The dam is 375 feet tall and 11,000 feet wide. It has 12 turbines generating ten billion kilowatt-hours, enough to power every city in Egypt. 

…During the long period of construction, the Nile River wasn’t completely stopped. Even as the reservoir was filling, part of the river was allowed to flow past. The farmers downstream depended on it. They drank it, they washed in it, it watered their crops and turned their millwheels. They sailed on it in the moonlight and wrote songs about it. It was their life. But on the day when the reservoir poured through the turbines, a power was unleashed that spread far beyond the farms down river and brought possibilities they had only dreamed of.

…Pentecost is like the opening of the Aswan High Dam. Before Pentecost, the river of God’s Holy Spirit blessed the people of Israel and was their very life. But after Pentecost, the power of the Holy Spirit spread out to illuminate the entire world. None of the benefits enjoyed in the pre-Pentecostal days were taken away, but ten billion kilowatts were added to enable the church to bring the light of the gospel of the glory of Jesus Christ to every tongue, tribe, and nation.[i]

Powerful Spirit, Powerful Worship

…The Apostles and other followers of Jesus were gathered in a room for the festival of Pentecost. Suddenly, a furious wind from heaven began to blow through the house. Pillars of fire rested on everyone, yet no one was burned. Then Luke tells us that everyone was filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in foreign languages they did not know. It was so loud and caused such a commotion that others in the neighborhood heard it and started arriving to see what was going on. 

…Imagine worship at your church getting so powerful that the people who live around your church start arriving to find out what’s going on! In fact, it was such a sight that people thought the Apostles might be drunk, even though it was before 9am. That’s when Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, stood up to preach a sermon so powerful that Luke recorded it in Acts 2. And there are three ideas from that sermon that I want to share with you this evening.

Jesus has Work for Us to Do, and the Holy Spirit Leads the Way

…First, I want you to notice that Peter proclaims that Jesus has work for His followers to do, and He’s sent the Holy Spirit to lead the way in doing it. 

…Peter began his sermon by quoting the prophet Joel:

And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams; and even on my male and female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. And I will display wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth below,blood, fire, and vapor of smoke….And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

…I want you to notice something from what Peter and Joel said. If you’re old, Jesus has work for you to do! If you’re young, Jesus says, “Get busy!” If you’re a man or a woman, He’s telling you to get moving. There are no excuses. Until Jesus returns, there is work for us to do, and the Holy Spirit is here to lead us, if we’re willing to follow.

…I’ll be honest with you. In my role, I travel a lot – all over Florida. And I’m in a lot of different churches. Sometimes, I meet people who tell me, “We’re just an old congregation, and we’re tired. We need younger people to come and do something.” That’s when I need the Holy Spirit to put his hand over my mouth, because it raises my holy ire! 

If You’re Not Dead, You’re Not Done

…The Holy Spirit arrived on Pentecost with a bold message: “If you’re not dead, you’re not done.” Age is not a pass for not evangelizing and discipling. And neither is inexperience. “Your old men will have dreams…Your sons and daughters will prophesy.” I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but I need you to hear Peter’s sermon on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit has arrived, and if we’re seeking to be filled with Him, then there’s work to be done. Young, old, men, women, boys, girls – there are people to be saved! When I hear churches make excuses, “We’re too old, we’re too small, we’re rural, we’re urban, we’re poor…” it makes me question whether the people of that church are actively asking the Holy Spirit to fill them. It makes me question whether they’re preparing for the Presence. 

…One of my favorite Christian authors, A. W. Tozer, once said, “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95% of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95% of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.” I want you to think about that for a moment. Does that describe your church? Does it describe your life?

…I’m willing to bet that almost every day during my devotion time, I ask the Holy Spirit to fill me. When I pray for the pastors and churches of this Conference, I always ask the Holy Spirit to fill you all. I ask that for two reasons. First, I leak, and I know I need a fresh filling. Second, the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost to give us that filling. He wants to fill us. We just need to ask.

…I humbly and lovingly encourage you to ask yourselves tonight, no matter your age, your size, or where you’re located, are you genuinely asking the Holy Spirit to fill you, and are you looking for the work the Holy Spirit has for you to do? Are you just doing what you’ve always done, and the Holy Spirit isn’t in it? Or are you actively asking the Holy Spirit where He’s at work in your community and how you and your church can get behind it?

The Holy Spirit is Always Doing a New Thing, but Never Sharing New Truth

…The second thing I think Peter is sharing in his Pentecost sermon to help us prepare for the presence of the Holy Spirit is to understand a very important idea: the Holy Spirit is doing a new thing, but the Holy Spirit is not sharing a new truth!

…Starting in verse 22 of Acts 2, Peter began to testify to who Jesus is: the Son of God and Savior of the world. The Holy Spirit was doing a new thing on that Pentecost. He was birthing the church, the very movement of Jesus that continues 2,000 years later and has changed the face of the Earth. Not once did the Holy Spirit ever bring new truth. 

…For so many years, we were told the Holy Spirit was doing a new thing as a justification to lead us away from Biblical teaching. It was such a deceiving message that I’ll be bold enough to say that it came straight from the pit of hell, because if successful, that kind of message takes us away from Jesus, not closer to Him.

…My friend, JD Walt, just finished a series on his devotional commentary called the Wake-Up Call. It walked readers through 1 John. One day, several weeks ago, JD wrote about the Holy Spirit doing a new thing but never bringing new truth. He wrote

One of the marks of a maturing follower of Jesus is a humble boldness born of a deep inner conviction about what is true, which consequently gives one discernment about what is false. This comes from the Holy Spirit. But how can you know it is from the Holy Spirit and that you aren’t being self-deceived? Test your sense of discernment by the whole counsel of Scripture. Is your discernment contrary to the teaching of Scripture? Does your sense of discernment require a stretched and strained interpretation of Scripture? If so, there’s a good chance you may be opening yourself up to false teaching. False teaching can take root so easily; through sheer strength of numbers, the consensus in the present can bully the truth of the past. Never mind that it flies in the face of the truth as it has always been taught and understood for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

…In John 14:25-26, Jesus said, “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Later in John 16:12-13, Jesus said, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

…As JD finished that entry, “The Holy Spirit is always doing a new thing, but revealing new truth? Not so much.”

…As you prepare for the presence and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you so you can be about the new things He has for you, I want to empower you to remember this. The Holy Spirit is always doing a new thing, reaching new people, and sharing the Gospel in new ways. The Holy Spirit is never sharing new truth. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and the Holy Spirit will never contradict Jesus or the word of God. Anyone who tries to tell you differently is leading you astray. Be on guard, and let the Holy Spirit be your Guardian.

Repent To Be Filled

…The last idea that I think Peter is communicating to us through his Pentecost sermon is to give us the one key thing we must do to prepare for the Presence of the Holy Spirit, to fill us, lead us, and guide us.

…The people who heard Peter preach that day were captivated. So much so that Luke tells us in Acts 2:37, “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” They were cut to the heart! That’s what the Holy Spirit does. That’s how you know you’ve encountered Him. You cannot interact with the Holy Spirit and not be significantly changed or emotionally affected.

…I want you to ask that question tonight. I want you to be saying to Jesus, yourself, and your neighbor, “What shall we do?” I want you to say it because you’ve powerfully encountered the Holy Spirit today, and you’re ready to prepare yourself to receive His presence and His filling.

…So, what shall we do? Peter has the answer in verses 38-39, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

…We must repent! When someone has brought a new idea to our church, and we’ve said, “We’ve never done it that way before,” we must repent! When we’ve said or thought, “I’m too old, someone else needs to do it,” we need to repent! When we’ve said, “We don’t have enough money, time, or volunteers” without remembering we worship a God who owns it all to begin with, we need to repent! When we’ve been led astray by people telling us the Holy Spirit is doing a new thing, but they’re really trying to sell us heresy, we need to repent! When we’ve thought, “I’m too young or Jesus can’t use me,” we need to repent! When we’ve put our personal preferences of comfort and security ahead of the mission, we need to repent! When we’ve felt the Holy Spirit leading us towards the new thing He’s doing to share the timeless truth of Jesus Christ, and yet we’ve run in the opposite direction, we need to repent!

…And if we’ve never chosen to follow Jesus, then we need to repent, be baptized, and sit under the teaching of mentors who will disciple us into becoming obedient followers of Christ.

From Disobedience to Repentance

…When I practiced law and began to truly know that God was calling me to be a pastor, I didn’t want to do it. I was utterly disobedient. I was certain God was calling me to do a new thing – become an ordained elder in the church – but I wanted to do what I wanted to do. I wanted to make a lot of money. I wanted to have a huge home and fancy cars. I wanted to run for public office. And God beat the snot out of me.

…For six weeks, I rebelled and was recalcitrant. I didn’t have a decent night’s sleep once in those six weeks. I couldn’t eat. My stomach was in knots all day, every day. Work was miserable. I was miserable. I knew what Jesus wanted, and I was refusing. And finally, I repented. I confessed my sins, asked for forgiveness, and told Jesus I would follow what He wanted of me. And I experienced that peace that passes all understanding that Paul wrote about in Philippians 4:7. And my life has never been the same. It’s been more wonderful than I could ever imagine. It’s also been hard, immensely challenging, and at times, an emotional roller coaster. But never once has the Holy Spirit abandoned me. He has led me the entire way, and as my hero, Maxie Dunnam would say, “God’s grace never took me, where God’s grace wouldn’t sustain me.”

…Friends, we need to repent. We need to submit. We need to turn towards the Holy Spirit, confess our sin, and offer ourselves to Him to go wherever He wants, whenever He wants, however He wants.

A Life Filled with the Holy Spirit

…What does that kind of life look like? Luke tells us at the end of Acts 2 in verses 42-47.

…They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

…Seeking the teachers of those wiser than we in the faith – that’s what a life prepared for the presence looks like. A rich prayer life and fellowship. That’s what it looks like. Being filled with awe at the amazing things the Holy Spirit will do right in front of us. That’s what it looks like. Being unselfish with our things and money and using them for God’s needs. That’s what it looks like. Worshipping and praising Jesus. That’s what it looks like.

…Friends, that’s not just something we read about that happened 2,000 years ago. It’s happening today. It can happen in your church in 2025. You don’t have to be a big church. You don’t have to be a rich church. You don’t have to be a church filled with young families. You can experience everything described in Acts 42-47 after Pentecost. 

…But you must understand that if you’re not dead, you’re not done. The Holy Spirit has work for you to do – absolutely no excuses. You can’t be led astray by false teachers who are waiting to get their hands on you. The Holy Spirit is always doing a new thing, but revealing new truth, not so much. And you must repent. You must repent by turning from yourself and turning toward Jesus, asking for forgiveness, and offering yourself to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

…Let’s prepare for the Presence, ask to be filled, and watch the miracles of ten billion Holy Spirit kilowatts happen right in front of our eyes.

All God’s love,

Jay

[i] Piper, John. Pentecost is Like the Opening of the Aswan High Dam. Preaching Today. https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2015/august/5081015.html