THE BENEFITS OF BEING INVOLVED IN A CELL GROUP
Acts 5:42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
Christianity was never intended to be a solo ride. It finds its most fulfilling and wonderful expression when people live, act and work in community - as friends, and as brothers and sisters
Psalms 133:1 says How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
My purpose today is to challenge you to get involved in a cell group. I know that many of you may have hesitations and I understand that. So in going to give you
FOUR COMPELLING REASONS TO JOIN A CELL GROUP TODAY!
1. The Friendship Factor
a) In a Cell Group, you meet people that become lifelong friends
b) You find out that you are not alone . In your struggles. You have support.
There The Body of Christ really becomes a family, like it is supposed to be.
c) You also expose yourself to a diversity of people that ordinarily you would not have a relationship with. You get to experience the wonder of diversity in the Body of Christ - this is a good thing!
d) From a leadership perspective and church growth perspective, people in a church might choose quite readily to walk away from a program run at the church, but they will be reluctant to walk away from a relationship.
2. The Challenge Factor: the bible says that iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
a) In a Cell group with accountable relationships we are challenged by those who love us to move on toward what God has for us
b) If this brings fear into your heart, be at peace
c) It’s hard to be complacent when you have a group of people continually encouraging you. Story of young man and coal...
Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, (25) not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
3. The Health Factor
a) Being involved in consistent, growing relationships that are based on Christ, generally improve our health in every way, Spirit, soul and body.
b) in cells, We pray for each other every week
James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
James 5:14-15 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. (15) And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
4. The Outreach Factor
a) Most of the ministry of the church is done through the Cell Groups
(1) who takes care of New Believers
(2) who does the Discipleship
(3) usually people involved in cells take responsibility for Ushering
(5) When we do outreaches in particular areas, the cell is our unit of organisation
(6) The church can be mobilised very quickly and effectively this way
(7) Since service is such an important part of our Christian experience, people love this
Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
OBSTACLES TO JOINING A CELL GROUP
Fear. But to overcome a) remember that God has not given you a Spirit of Fear. B) Be willing to take a risk c) remember the benefits discussed.
Procrastination. But Why put off something today that is worthwhile? If you do, the odds of you ever actually doing it greatly decrease. Just give a Cell A try for 3 weeks - you won’t be sorry.
Scheduling. We have a Cell Groups currently operating on Wednesdays and Thursdays. There's even a ladies cell run on a Tuesday night.
Childcare. We still have to look at how we can more effectively deal with this, but one of the ways is to offer your home to have a cell in.
What are you waiting for? Take the Cell Challenge today. Meet some people ask some questions - and visit a Cell this week.
Our Vision with regards Cells
Establish expanding networks of small groups in the church that will:
Equip Gods people to do his work, and build up the church...so that the whole body is healthy and growing a full of love. EPH 4:12, 16 NLT
Most scholars agree that the early house churches emphasised the following elements:
Worship
Practice of the spiritual gifts
Teaching
Prayer
Fellowship
Evangelism
The Lord's Supper
Baptism
The Size of the Early House Churches
Church historians agree that house churches could rarely have been more than 15 or 20 people—simply because they took place in small apartments. The vast majority of people, perhaps as many as 90 percent, lived in apartments of one or two rooms crowded above or behind shops. Once a house church grew larger than that, it multiplied by simply starting another house church nearby. If not, the growth immediately caused problems.
Normally a house church met in the largest room of a private home, usually the dining room. Most apartments shared a public courtyard with adjoining units, and families cooked in the courtyards. The dining room and courtyard provided space for teaching and preaching ministries, baptismal instruction, prayer meetings, the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and missional activities. Privacy was rare. Wayne Meeks writes that life happened in front of the neighbors. In our privatized world, it's hard to imagine what the early church experienced.
Oikos Transformation
One of the major cultural gaps between then and now is the extended family, or the ancient oikos structure. Those who live in the Western world have a hard time imagining the New Testament culture in which it was normal to live with parents, relatives, servants, and other workers. We are accustomed to living in nuclear families—father, mother, and children. Yet, the ancient world didn't even have a way to express what we call the "nuclear family." We only find the word oikos, which means household, house, or extended family.
God used the oikos to extend the gospel throughout the Roman Empire. The early believers modeled transformed lives and distinct values that were often countercultural. Yet, in these crowded, urban environments, people were able to see Christianity up close. They heard and saw the testimonies of those transformed by the gospel, and they desired to experience Christ for themselves. Husbands loved wives, servants were treated with dignity, married partners submitted to one another, and love reigned supreme. Friends and neighbors were drawn to this new transformed community.
Developing Leaders Organically
Many are amazed at how quickly Paul developed leadership in the early church, but the early house churches were natural incubators for leadership. In Paul's church plants, we don't see formal leadership structures. The person who opened his or her home would assume leadership, and the rest of the leadership structure was already in place—Paul used the oikos structure that was already built into the social infrastructure.
Those leaders were only later given titles. In 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, Paul says, "Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work." Paul is talking about house church leaders, but he didn't feel it was worth mentioning their exact title because they developed organically within the house-church structure.
Foundational rather than optional. Small-group ministry must be foundational to our churches today—not a nice add-on. God chose to develop the first disciples through house-to-house ministry and his purposes in small-group ministry remain the same today.
I hope I’ve inspired you to get involved.
We will now talk to you about the various groups we already have and where we would like to start some groups.
