by Mario Vega

In the process of inviting a new guest to the cell meeting, you must continue with a special gesture towards that person. This may be something simple but of great significance for this person: a visit when he or she is sick, remembering the birth date, an unexpected gift. Sadly, most people never do this.

When you are working to evangelize a person, what you do has much more impact than what you say. An action or gesture can be a decisive factor to introduce the gospel to the person.

When you have made an action with solidarity and love, the person will be so touched by that action that he or she will not refuse an invitation to go to a house where the message of the gospel is shared.

The curiosity that Christian conduct awakes is sufficient to trigger a desire to interact with such a person.

What do you think?

Mario

Translation in Spanish:

Una milla más.

En el proceso de hacer un invitado a la célula, se debe continuar con un gesto especial hacia esa persona. Puede tratarse de algo sencillo pero que será de gran significado para ella.

Una visita cuando se encuentra enferma, recordarse de su fecha de cumpleaños, un regalo inesperado. Es decir, aquello que la generalidad de personas nunca hace.

En el trabajo de evangelizar a una persona tiene mucho más peso lo que hacemos que lo que decimos. Una acción o un gesto puede ser un elemento determinante para presentar el evangelio a una persona.

Cuando se ha hecho una acción solidaria y de amor, la persona quedará tan marcada por ese acto que por ninguna razón rehusará una invitación para ir a una casa donde se comparte el mensaje del evangelio.

La curiosidad que despierta la conducta cristiana es suficiente para desatar un deseo de relacionarse con personas tan serviciales y que hacen lo que nadie más acostumbra hacer.

by Jeff Tunnell

www.bigbearchristiancenter.org

My wife and I helped with a surprise birthday party in one of the cells last night.  We gathered outside the house with a small band of friends and came in singing the familiar Happy Birthday tune just as the cell was ending. The person we were celebrating was so surprised that she was looking around the room trying to discover whose birthday it was not realizing that it was for her!

As we ate cake I spoke with a couple that was new to me. I was impressed to find out that SHE had recently rebuilt her own Jeep, engine and all.  She explained that when she went to the junkyard to get parts and advice, the owner took an interest in her project and began to coach her personally. As she approached each step of rebuilding the car, he would explain how to proceed and then watch her do the work, guiding her with his words, experience and attention but not doing the work for her.

I hope this leaves a picture in your mind as it did mine!  Effective coaching combined with close supervision are a quest when launching new cell leaders.  I believe that many “less than perfect” leaders could be utilized IF they have both of these; Regular relational contact with an experienced leader (supervision) and guidance that leads to success in cell ministry (coaching).

Last weekend my new acquaintance completed a brake job on her car all by herself…now to what conclusions does that lead you?

by Steve Cordle

I enjoy fresh fruit – but only when it’s ripe. I love a juicy orange, but I’ll pass on rock-hard pears and green bananas.

New leaders are part of the “fruit” of our cell ministry. But deploying a leader who is not ready (“ripe”) is a recipe for indigestion all around. 

A good equipping track will go a long way in preparing a person for leadership. However, just completing classes does not mean a person is ready to lead a group. What are the indicators that an apprentice is ready to lead a cell? Here are a few indicators:
- spiritually growing, as evidenced by a strong prayer and devotional life

- outreach effectiveness: have they brought someone to the group?

- influence with others in the group; would others look to them for spiritual direction?

- commitment to the church’s vision

- ability to submit to a coach

What are the top indicators for of leadership readiness in your ministry?

Steve

Ben Wong, founder of CCMN, has an excellent PowerPoint on the concept of sending (or being sent out) (download the PowerPoint here). He argues that Christ desires to “send us” rather than “keep us.” Ben feels that the missing factor in the modern doctrine of the church is “sending.” He emphasizes that the “church” is what the people of God DO in the world, rather than what we do in “church.” Jesus often talked about how the Father sent him into the world (e.g., Luke 4:18, John 4:34). And then at least seven times Jesus tells us that we are also sent into the world to continue the process. Jesus says in John 17:18, for example, ”As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”

Jesus trained and discipled people in order to send them. Sadly, we often disciple people in order to keep them. Notice that the word “send” is lodged within Christ’s prayer for harvest workers. Jesus says, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:38).

Cell ministry is never an end in itself. Unless cell members are challenged and trained to be workers, small groups easily become an end in themselves. Ben Wong says, ”Sending should be the basic DNA of the church. . . A person’s growth has a progression – from following leaders – to becoming a leader.”

He even wonders if we should change the term “multiplication” to “sending.” Whatever you call it, I”m sure you get the point: God matures us spiritually in order to send us. Would you agree? Disagree? What’s your opinion?

Joel Comiskey

by Mario Vega

Once you’ve established the initial contact with the person you want to lead to Jesus, you must deepen the friendship by looking for ways to give continuity. In my previous blog, Michael Sove posted an excellent commentary where he narrates an experience which illustrates the above.

In order to deepen the relationship, Christians must be very sensitive to obtain key information. For example: needs, difficulties, marriage conflicts, interests, hobbies, etc.

With this information, you can now provide support, assistance, guidance or introduce this person to other cell members that have common interests or concerns. It is important to remember that studies show that the greater the number of Christians a person knows, the greater the probabilities of believing and following Jesus.

Up to this point, there has not been made an invitation to attend the cell meeting yet. So far it has only been about a sincere effort to love and serve the person. This is the best way to make new guests for your cell.

Other ideas?

Mario

Translation in Spanish:

Información clave.

Una vez establecido el primer contacto con la persona a quien se desea conducir a Jesús, se debe profundizar la amistad buscando la manera de darle continuidad. En mi blog anterior, Michael Sove colocó un excelente comentario donde cuenta una experiencia que ilustra lo anterior.
En la profundización de la relación, el cristiano debe estar muy sensible a obtener información clave. Por ejemplo: necesidades, dificultades, conflictos en el matrimonio, intereses, pasatiempos, etc.
Con esa información el cristiano puede ahora enfocarse para ofrecer apoyo, ayuda, orientación o presentar a la persona a otros miembros de la célula con quien tenga aficiones o preocupaciones comunes. Es importante recordar que los estudios indican que a mayor cantidad de cristianos una persona conoce, mayores las probabilidades que termine creyendo en Jesús.
Hasta este punto, todavía no se ha hecho una invitación a asistir a la célula. Hasta ahora solamente se ha tratado de un esfuerzo sincero por amar y servir a una persona. Es la manera de hacer un invitado.
¿Otras ideas?

by Jeff Tunnell

www.bigbearchristiancenter.org

Remember that new cell we started back in September? We are well under way by now and moving into the “storming” segment of discovering our differences.  Personalities, approaches, who’s on time, who’s late, who talks too much, or not enough, along with hiding behind “nice” exteriors to avoid relationship closeness are just a few things that show up during this phase of development. 

The BIG QUESTION now is, ”Will we move through these problems in order to establish sincere love and the fulfillment of the “one another” passages in the New Testament?”

Loving one another is a mark of true discipleship according to Jesus and in turn becomes remarkable in the eyes of the world.  “By this they will know…” Making the decision to love is a first step in which we shape our will by choice and wait for the emotions to follow. Commitment will outlast the problems that arise in relationships. All this by His grace!

How have you succeeded in the “storming” stage while building your cell?

by Steve Cordle

Yesterday Joel introduced the idea of how to structure and choose staff for a growing cell church. Today let me offer a few thoughts on how to lead staff once they are hired.

Every staffer needs to know what their targets are and how they are doing. So what is the target for a cell staff pastor? We could say the goal is to produce more healthy groups, and that would be true.

But an even sharper focus would be for that staffer to think in terms of developing leaders of leaders. In other words, instead of thinking about producing group leaders, focus on producing coaches.

This changes the way the staff person leads. Now the goal is not just to see that their groups are healthy, but to work toward the next level of ministry: where leaders have multiplied and now coach other leaders. This means the staffer will train, pray, vision, disciple, and challenge their leaders to move to a new level.

Do you and your staff person share the same target?

Another practical step is to make the staff meetings a tool to keep the vision sharp. At each meeting of our network pastors there are reports lying on the table which shows the attendance and other stats of each group in each pastor’s network. We ask each pastor to share: a) a highlight in your network b) a hot spot c) any advice you’d like from other staff d) the major step you will take this week to strengthen your network. (It’s also important to ask how last week’s step went.)

Also, this is the time of year for goal setting. We ask each pastor to share numerical goals they believe the Lord is leading them to pursue for the next year. Spirit-led, personally-owned goals will drive a pastor’s ministry from the inside out.

Your thoughts?

Steve

I have the privilege of coaching pastors of churches from various sizes and different places in the cell journey. One church I’m coaching is in the single cell stage, has no celebration, and is preparing to multiply into two cells. Another church has 650, meets weekly in celebration and is transitioning to the cell church strategy.

Another church I’m coaching is right in-between. It started as a cell church, lost focus along the way, and asked me to coach them to retool and refocus. This church of 300 has approximately twenty cell groups and recently asked for counsel about hiring new staff. The pastor asked:

“How important is it to add a full time pastoral staff position to take the load off me, versus adding a part time person?” (one of his administrative team members insisted they hire a fulltime person, while others were open to either option).

I gave my opinion, but I told him that I would seek outside counsel. I asked Steve Cordle what he thought. As the founder of a church that now has 70 cells and 1200 worship attendance on 2 campuses, I knew Steve had loads of advice and experience.

Steve wrote saying, “Part-time people are preferable in my book: they often work well beyond their expected hours, and you can get two part-time for less than the cost of a full-time. Quite often they will produce more. The part-time role allows you to see how a person is doing before moving to a full-time role.”
The pastor of the church of 300 then asked, “Should I get an experienced fulltime pastor from outside who could lift stuff off my shoulders or hire someone from within, who might have less experience but who shares our vision and values.”

Steve Cordle replied, “If you stay focused on cell and celebration you won’t have to chase too many other things as you keep executing the ministry of the church through the cells. Hiring a part-time cell person sounds good, but hiring a part-time cell pastor from within is to be preferred. You know them, they know you, there is little danger of philosophical difference, and it models ministry advancement to the rest of the church. Make sure the person you hire has multiplied a cell and has the ability to influence others. The beauty of hiring from within is that you can see this in your own context before hiring. If there is no one suitable from within to hire and you hire from the outside, only hire someone who has done it already. Many can talk about cell ministry with conviction, fewer do it well. Make sure you set very clear expectations of their role: that the result of their ministry to measured in the number of healthy cells, and the adult discipleship is directly related to the cell ministry.”

I thought Steve’s advice was so right on, I wanted to pass it on to you.

What do you think?

Joel Comiskey

by Mario Vega

In the process of inviting a new guest to the cell, the first step is to make contact. The goal is to develop a relationship with the person and then eventually invite him or her to the cell. Joel Comiskey tells the story of how he would “do things in his yard ” with the goal of getting the chance to make contact with his neighbors. That first contact could be a simple greeting, but, then it could be cultivated into a much closer relationship.

Pastor Cho mentions how his members spend time going up and down in their apartments’ tower elevator only to meet “by chance” with a neighbor that could be helped with their shopping bag or children.

We should take full advantage of that first contact when we’re seeking to serve people. We can continue with the process of inviting this person to the cell meeting when this first contact is transformed into a friendly relationship.

Comments?

Mario

El primer contacto.
En el proceso de hacer un invitado se debe procurar un primer contacto para iniciar una relación de amistad con la persona a quien se pretende invitar a la célula.
Joel Comiskey me ha contado de cómo invertía tiempo en ‘cuidar’ su jardín solamente por tener la oportunidad de tener un primer contacto ‘de casualidad’ con sus vecinos. Ese primer contacto podía ser un simple saludo; pero, que luego podía cultivarse como una más estrecha relación.
Por su parte, el Pastor Cho menciona cómo sus miembros invierten tiempo subiendo y bajando en el ascensor en su torre de apartamentos solamente para encontrarse ‘por casualidad’ con algún vecino al cual ayudar con su bolsa de comprados o con los niños.
Ese primer contacto se aprovecha al máximo en la búsqueda de servir a las personas. Cuando de ese primer contacto se transforma en una relación de amistad se puede continuar con el proceso de invitación de la persona a la célula.

by jeff Tunnell

www.bigbearchristiancenter.org

Hallelujah! Thine the glory, Hallelujah! Amen. Hallelujah! Thine the glory; Revive us again!  The words kept running through my heart and head.  Sitting to write I couldn’t shut off the familiar tune rolling over and over in my spirit and so I yielded.  It was a cry coming from within after reflecting on the subject of prayer again. Revival is bringing back to the “normal” state something that is waning toward expiring. Oh how much we need this in our worship of the Almighty.

Prayer, the outpouring of the heart to our Father, needs this reviving. Unrestrained worship as lifestyle, not simply a duty-filled, compartmentalized practice that fits neatly into a segment of my day.  Prayer without ceasing; love without restriction. Comfortable conversation with Jesus and power-filled intercession guided by the Holy Spirit.

To come again as the child with faith that is simple and trusting. Believing once again that our Father in heaven can do anything in response to believing prayer. Pastor Mario Vega’s blogs on this subject are stirring me.  Prayer dependency is a waning area of spiritual discpline in the western church.  We can operate celebrations without much prayer in them.  We know how to choreograph the meetings to look good and flow pretty seamlessly from beginning to end – but where is prayer?  We have songs with words about US and how God meets OUR needs, but when do we lean into our need for Him?

Make us like children, revive us again to the simple dependency of faith in the Greater One!

Happy Thanksgiving (whether in the USA or not!)