Guest Speaker: Pastor Tom Terry

Guest Speaker Pastor Tom Terry Overview

In this compelling message delivered on May 2, 2023, Pastor Tom Terry shares a vision for what the Church can become when believers move beyond passive attendance into active, Spirit-filled service. Drawing from Matthew 15:29-31, Luke 6:17-19, Acts 1-2, Luke 10, Matthew 10, and Luke 9:28-36, Pastor Tom builds a framework of spiritual progression using concentric circles from the Gospels. He identifies four levels of discipleship: the multitude who followed Jesus, the 120 who waited in the upper room, the 70 disciples sent out with authority, and the 12 apostles entrusted with the deepest commissioning. He opens by sharing remarkable testimonies from evangelistic crusades in Pakistan, including over 85,000 documented salvations, 35,000 healings, and 250 planted churches, accomplished at roughly fifty cents per soul. Pastor Tom challenges listeners to stop making excuses rooted in comfort, family idolatry, or fear of commitment, and to press into the level of glory experienced by Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration. The message closes with a passionate call to serve, pray, fast, and believe God for a visible manifestation of His glory in the local church.

Guest Speaker Pastor Tom Terry Outline

• 00:00 – Welcome and Testimonies from Pakistan: Pastor Tom introduces himself and shares documented testimonies from Skype crusades in Pakistan, including over 85,000 salvations, 35,000 healings, and 250 churches planted over seven years.
• 06:30 – The Multitude Who Followed Jesus: Using Matthew 15:29-31 and Luke 6:17-19, Pastor Tom establishes the starting point of discipleship: the great multitudes who came to Jesus for healing and deliverance. Every believer begins here.
• 14:00 – The 120 in the Upper Room: Drawing from Acts 1-2, Pastor Tom explains why only 120 out of thousands showed up to receive the Holy Spirit, emphasizing that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is a commandment, not a suggestion.
• 22:00 – The 70 Disciples and the Cost of Commitment: From Luke 9:57-62 and Luke 10:1, Pastor Tom exposes three types of excuses that prevented people from being among the 70: comfort, family idolatry, and looking back. He calls believers to stop making excuses.
• 31:00 – The 12 Apostles and the Deeper Commissioning: Matthew 10 reveals that the twelve were entrusted with power over unclean spirits and all sickness, but also warned of persecution, betrayal, and hatred. Greater authority requires greater consecration.
• 40:00 – Serving in the Helps Ministry as the Entry Point: Romans 12:3-5 grounds the sermon as Pastor Tom explains that everyone has a ministry function, and the path to the prophetic begins with serving faithfully in practical roles like janitorial work, nursery, or worship support.
• 46:00 – The Three and the Glory of Transfiguration: Luke 9:28-36 presents Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration as the pinnacle of proximity to Jesus. Pastor Tom connects this glory cloud to the anointing on Peter in Acts 5, where even his shadow healed the sick.
• 51:00 – A Personal Vision and the Coming Glory: Pastor Tom shares a three-day vision he received in 1978 in which God brought heaven down to earth, and the subsequent word he received decades later that entire churches can experience this manifest glory in the last days.
• 54:00 – Altar Call and Final Exhortation: Pastor Tom calls the congregation to identify their level of commitment, encourages those not yet filled with the Holy Spirit, and closes with a challenge to get more involved, pray more, and press toward the glory of God.

Scripture References

Matthew 15:29-31, Luke 6:17-19, Acts 1:1-8, Acts 2:1-4, Luke 10:1-2, Luke 9:57-62, Matthew 10:1, Matthew 10:5-25, Romans 12:3-5, 1 Corinthians 15:1-7, Acts 5

Key Takeaways

• Every believer starts as part of the multitude, but God calls each one to press deeper into discipleship, from the 120 to the 70 to the 12.
• The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a commandment given by Jesus through the Holy Ghost, not a suggestion or optional experience.
• The greatest obstacle keeping believers from the next level of discipleship is idolatry in relationships, placing family, comfort, or feelings above obedience to Christ.
• Faithful service in practical roles such as cleaning, childcare, or sound production is the proven pathway to being entrusted with greater spiritual authority.
• Persecution, betrayal, and resistance from family members are not signs that you are doing something wrong but confirmation that your obedience is threatening the kingdom of darkness.
• The glory that rested on Peter in Acts 5, so powerfully that his shadow healed the sick, is available to churches today that commit to prayer, fasting, and consecrated discipleship.
• Documented global fruit, including tens of thousands of salvations and healings, proves that the supernatural power of Jesus Christ is active and available to any believer who steps out in faith.

Guest Speaker Pastor Tom Terry Notes

Four Levels of Discipleship in the Gospels

Pastor Tom Terry builds his entire message around a compelling framework drawn directly from the Gospel narratives. He identifies four concentric circles of proximity to Jesus: the multitude, the 120, the 70, and the 12. Each level represents a deeper degree of commitment, consecration, and spiritual authority. The multitude is where every believer begins, drawn by miracles and the presence of God. But Jesus consistently called people further in, and not everyone responded. This framework challenges comfortable Christianity by showing that proximity to Jesus was always voluntary, progressive, and costly.

Excuses That Block Spiritual Advancement

Luke 9:57-62 provides the most direct biblical evidence for why believers stall in their spiritual growth. Three unnamed individuals each offered Jesus a reasonable-sounding excuse: one valued personal comfort, one prioritized family obligation, and one could not fully let go of the past. Pastor Tom applies each excuse directly to contemporary American church culture, where soccer games, family approval, and emotional wounds routinely take precedence over the call of God. He states plainly that idolatry in the realm of relationships is the greatest single problem facing the American church today.

Serving Faithfully Before Receiving Authority

Romans 12:3-5 anchors Pastor Tom’s practical call to action. He recounts spending ten years as a church janitor, serving in the nursery, leading worship despite an admitted inability to sing, and doing whatever his pastor asked without complaint. He argues that every five-fold ministry gift begins as a deacon or servant, and that those who bypass this process of humble service come up the wrong way. The invitation to get involved starts with the most unglamorous task available, because faithfulness in small things is what qualifies a person for greater spiritual trust.

The Transfiguration as a Model for Corporate Glory

Luke 9:28-36 is the climactic scriptural passage of the sermon. Jesus took only Peter, James, and John up the mountain because they were closest to Him, and in that place of intimacy they encountered Moses, Elijah, and a glory cloud that overshadowed them all. Pastor Tom connects this experience directly to Peter’s ministry in Acts 5, where the anointing on him was so concentrated that the sick were healed by his shadow passing over them. He presents this as a pattern available to churches today that cultivate deep prayer, fasting, and consecration among their core members.

Global Fruit as Evidence of Available Power

Pastor Tom opens the sermon with concrete, documented evidence that the supernatural power of Jesus Christ is not theoretical. Over seven years of Skype evangelism crusades in Pakistan, his ministry recorded more than 85,000 salvations, 35,000 confirmed healings, 968 documented deliverances from demonic oppression, and 250 new churches established. All of this was accomplished without him ever setting foot in the country, at an average cost of fifty cents per soul. He presents these figures not to boast but to establish that the same Spirit available to the early Church is available right now to any believer willing to act.

A 1978 Vision and the Last Days Church

Pastor Tom shares a rarely disclosed personal experience from 1978, shortly after his conversion, in which he received a three-day vision accompanied by a cloud of glory that remained in his room for thirty-three days. Decades later, God gave him the interpretation: the vision was not about taking individuals to heaven but about bringing heaven’s glory down to the local church. He believes this is a prophetic pattern for the last days, where entire congregations, led by committed and consecrated believers, will become vessels of manifest divine glory that draws in the lost and transforms communities.

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