By Michael Sove
One of the exciting aspects of being in a cell group is the opportunity to work together to maximize impact on those the group is praying for to receive Christ. Each of us has a different set of relationships and even the ability to be aware of and pray for each other’s friends is a powerful step toward reaching them.
As a church we have declared the week following the first Sunday of each month “Connection Week.†All our Life Groups (Cells) hold events during “Connection Week.†The goal is to connect with people who are without Christ or even those who are attending our weekend services who have not connected to a group. The group can meet on their normal gathering night or any time during that week. Many of our groups hold their events on the weekend of “Connection Week†as we have found unconnected people will be more inclined to participate in an event held on a weekend versus a weeknight. The event can also be a service evangelism project, anything to impact people and be out in the community.
For those unconnected on the inside this gives an opportunity once a month to invite people to connect with a group. Many times this is their first exposure to our groups. It is good to hold monthly events focused on outreach. Years ago I used to say to the cell leaders, “Hold an event every six weeks or so beside your normal gatherings.†What I found was that some groups would and some wouldn’t. It was seen as something optional. Another problem was that often the time would stretch out to a few months in between events as well. Now that we hold them accountable on a monthly basis and declare a given week for these events, the groups are very good about holding events. We do have to constantly remind our leaders that these events are for connecting and not simply fellowship events for their groups.
There is great potential when all cell members are actively building relationships with those needing Christ, then praying for each other and these relationships to grow. Combine that with events designed with those relationships in mind and there is great potential to see people come to Christ on a regular basis as the cell group throws out a net together.
What do your groups do to reach out together?
Michael