Month: June 2010

by Michael Sove

The dictionary gives the following definitions for the word “threshold”:

1. The sill of a doorway

2. The entrance to a house or building

3. Any place or point of entering or beginning

I think the word threshold is a perfect word to describe cell ministry that penetrates the neighborhoods we live in.  Wherever we go we carry the life of Christ.  What an awesome picture to capture and a worthy vision to chase after.  Taking the life of Christ across the thresholds of our homes and inviting others across that same threshold to experience that life!  At Allen we call our cells “Neighborhood Life” with that vision in mind.

Since a cell church soars with two wings, celebration and cell, it makes sense to hold cell gatherings on a weekly basis as we do celebration services.  Those who come to our weekly celebration services can be immediately be plugged into a cell and there can be continuity between what happens on Sunday and what happens in the cell.

Each month we hold three cell gatherings for edification and one cell gathering for outreach (usually on a weekend where people are more available).  For the week following the first Sunday of the month all our cells hold parties and events in our neighborhoods for the purpose of outreach and helping unconnected people from our celebration services get connected.  This month I invited my whole townhouse community to what we called “Ice Cream Sunday.”

I pray that you and your cell members can catch a “Threshold” vision!

Your comments?

Michael

by Mario Vega

Why should the church meet frequently outside the building? The reason is becuase this was the pattern of the early churches that emerged after the resurrection of Jesus. The early Christians didn’t have their own building. They worshipped in the open air or the Jewish temple and met from house to house.

Western Christianity has become far too attached to the place of worship, connecting faith with what happens inside the building. Yet, faith is something that should take place in the total life of the individual. This is the beauty of how the early church made use of their houses to live out the Christian faith. The house in the first century was the center of not only the family but also of economic production and of social relations.

The early Christians also met every day. Faith for them was not a matter of weekends; or twice a week. They met each day to share their faith around the table. The gospel for them was not a marginal activity in a corner of the weekend. Faith was something they practiced on a daily basis.

By not having a building, the early church was able to expand their faith throughout the Mediterranean world, just like what’s happening in China today. Not limiting the ministry to one or two days per week enabled the early Christians to live out their faith in a deep, profound way.

Let us be encouraged by the way the New Testament church daily lived out their vibrant faith as they met from house to house.

Comments?

Mario

translation:

Cada da y por las casas.

¿Por qué la iglesia debe reunirse fuera del edificio de culto y de manera periódica? Muy sencillo, porque esas eran las dos caractersticas de las iglesias que surgieron después de la resurrección de Jesús. Ellos no tenan ningún edificio para culto, consecuentemente, su única opción era la de reunirse en otro lugar que no fuera un edificio.

El cristiano occidental está al presente tan aferrado a su edificio de culto que no concibe el ejercicio de su fe fuera del recinto designado para ello. Pero, la fe es algo que debe abarcar la vida total de la persona. Por eso, los primeros cristianos se reunan en las casas. Que en el siglo I era el centro no sólo de la familia sino también de la producción económica y de las relaciones sociales.

El otro aspecto es que los primeros cristianos se reunan todos los das. La fe no era para ellos un asunto de fin de semana. O de dos veces por semana. Cada da se reunan para compartir su fe en torno a la mesa. El evangelio no era para ellos una actividad marginal en un rincón del fin de semana. La fe era para ellos la vida toda. La vida diaria.

El no concentrar el ejercicio de la fe en un edificio permitió a la iglesia primitiva expandirse por el mundo mediterráneo. Un fenómeno similar al que hoy sucede con la iglesia en China.

El no limitar a uno o dos das la labor del ministerio les permitió a los primeros cristianos vivir en plenitud y profundidad su vida cristiana. No digo con esto que no se pueda llevar una vida cristiana auténtica si no se va más allá del fin de semana, pero, el modelo de la iglesia del Nuevo Testamento es el de cada da y por las casas.

By Jeff Tunnell

Our Cell groups are referred to as Lighthouses, stemming from multiple prophetic insights given by the Holy Spirit.  Following that image we have depicted our cells as the prisms of a lighthouse that focus the original source of light – JESUS – in order to penetrate darkness and provide direction for the lost and disoriented travelers.

At one annual Lighthouse Keepers banquet (Cell leaders) we used PRISM as an acronym and theme:

P – penetrate the surrounding areas with light that dispels darkness using

R – regular, weekly meetings that keep us

I – in community while developing

S – spiritual maturity and

M – multiplying new leaders and new cells

Those who make up a single cell are called Lighthouse Family Members to remind ourselves of belonging and community within the cell group, much like it takes a small family to operate an actual lighthouse.

The analogy is fairly obvious: Lighthouses are placed in remote, often dangerous, locations and each family member is needed on a daily (certainly weekly) basis to maintain effective operations.  Cells work best outside the church building (remote) and weekly gatherings keep the family intact while they work together to penetrate the surrounding community.

by Joel Comiskey

I ate lunch with one small group guru a few years ago who wanted to pick my brain about the G12 philosophy. I also wanted to pick his brain about his definition of a small group, which I felt was inadequate. Early in my ministry, I had tried to follow this man’s “inclusive” small group definition and later had to backtrack when the cell system fell apart. So I asked him about it. He answered, “I believe if two men are pounding nails on a roof every six months, this constitutes a small group in the church.” He went on to say, “I define my small groups sociologically.” I countered, “why don’t you have the same loose definition of the celebration service?” We eventually decided to disagree agreeably and remain friends.

I believe that defining the cell holistically has long-term consequences. I define a cell as a group of 3-15 that meets weekly outside the church building for the purpose of evangelism, community, and spiritual growth with the goal of multiplication. The words “weekly” and “outside the church building” are the two most controversial points of the definition.

Let’s first look at the frequency question (weekly). I’ve noticed a trend among some churches doing cells to hold their meetings monthly or every other week. My heart always sinks when I hear this. Since the cell is the foundation of the cell church, it needs to be the first thing we dedicate our time to. Holding it monthly or bimonthly tends to weaken the quality, dilute the community, and dim the vision for outreach. It’s even hard to remember what happened from meeting to meeting. Other aspects of the cell system can meet less frequently (coaching, training, etc.), but the cell is the crown jewell of the cell church and needs to be prioritized accordingly.

Then there’s the issue of penetration (outside the building). I love cell ministry because it’s a penetration strategy, as opposd to a come-to-the-building strategy. The thrust of cell ministry is to go where the people live, breath, and work. I don’t believe cells must only meet in houses. They might meet in a Starbucks, on a university campus, or at work. The principle is establishing a lighthouse in the midst of a dark world. I love Laurence Khong’s quote, “The devil wants to trap us within the four walls of the church. Criminals don’t care if the policeman is pushing papers—as long as he’s not out on the street” (Apostolic Cell Church, p. 38).

Of course, there are exceptions to these two principles, and we must avoid cell church legalism like the plague. However, if there’s one area in which I become dogmatic, it’s in maintaining a qualitative definition of the cell.

Comments?

Joel

by Steve Cordle

As we have said in this week’s blogs, one of the most important decisions you will make about your cell ministry is what will constitute a cell. That is because what you practice in the cell will shape your people’s concept of what it means to follow Jesus.

If the main way we disciple people is through cell group ministry, it is vital that our groups engage people in all the major disciple practices!

For example, if we do not expect our groups to evangelize (or close the groups to new people in order for the members to “grow deeper”) then when will the members practice evangelism? By not building evangelism into the cell, we have effectively said to our church that we do not consider evangelism essential to a believer’s life. If it were, how could we possibly meet and not do it?

Further, since Jesus’ mission was “to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10), how could we disciple people to be like Him without doing evangelism?

Determining what we will call a cell is not merely a philosophical exercise. It will determine the nature of the disciples we produce!

Comments?

Steve