Month: November 2010

by Joel Comiskey

When John Wesley died in 1791, he left behind a church of 10,000 cell groups and 100,000 members. Cell groups were so important to the Methodist Church that a person could not enter the celebration service unless he or she showed a ticket that proved he or she was in a cell group during the week. God transformed people through Wesley’s structure of cell, bands, and celebration. Many believe that God used Wesley and the Methodist movement to save England from spiritual, moral, and even physical destruction.

Yet, the emphasis on cell and celebration died out 100 years after Wesley’s death. Why? A Ph.D. students explored this question and determined that the main reason the Methodist cell structure died was by allowing the cells to become too large. Instead of maintaining the intimate size of approximately ten people, the cells grew to 30, 40, or more and eventually became Methodist churches. The cell/celebration strategy disappeared because the cells grew too large.

Transformation takes place in a small group atmosphere. Even timid people can share in a group of 3-15 people. When the group grows larger, only extroverts are confident enough to express themselves. At the same time, cells must evangelize and reach out to unbelievers and unchurched people. So how can a cell grow larger while maintaining intimacy? The only way is through multiplication. Cell groups must multiply to stay faithful to the mission of intimacy and growth through outreach.

When you think of cell multiplication, do positive or negative thoughts come to your mind? Why do you think it’s important for a cell to multiply?

Joel

by Jim Wall

It is no coincidence that the most joyous thing a Christian ever does is also the most intimidating thing! The joy of sharing your faith with someone you care about and then praying with them to begin a life-changing relationship with Jesus is beyond words! For many, the fear of doing that is also beyond words!

So how is it that 60% of the more than 2,500 attenders of Western Branch Community Church have made their adult commitment to Jesus here? The answer is, we invest a lot of time and resources to help our people have the skills and the confidence to share their faith. We use every forum available to provide that training and experience.

We start with sermons that include inspiring stories from our members who successfully share their faith. We preach sermons on the effectiveness of “fishing with a net” over that of “fishing with a hook”; i.e. developing cell-level activities designed to build bridges to unsaved people.

We encourage all of our members to work through Joel Comiskey’s study guide called, Share. We do that in formal training sessions and by empowering our members to mentor others through Share. We also provide cell lessons that mobilize the cell groups on prayer walks through neighborhoods and to pray for their unsaved friends. We even provide courses through our Community Bible Institute such as “How to Live a Contagious Christian Life” and “How to Share your Faith in the Work Place.”

Perhaps the most important part of the training is practice. After all more is caught than taught!

We do that by resourcing and encouraging all of our cell groups to do one service evangelism project per quarter. Service evangelism is defined for us as a good deed that establishes good will that opens the door to share Good News. Each of our cells has the liberty to decide their own “mission field.” Some go to nursing homes. Some visit fire stations. Others feed the homeless. Still others do home repairs for senior citizens, single moms and families of the incarcerated. Our seasoned cell members lead the way. New cell members watch how simple and natural it is to do an act of kindness and segue into the simple question, “Is there something I pray with you about?” They see that simple question lead into spiritual conversations. They see the joy of people coming to Christ right there where they live!

In time, cell members who once watched it being modeled, become the role models. They become the ones asking the questions, praying the prayers, and leading people to Jesus. They show others how simple it can be to share their faith as a team and watch the Holy Spirit empower a simple act of kindness to become a life-changing moment in a person’s life.

Perhaps you would be willing to share some of the ways your church trains and mobilizes it’s members to share their faith?

Jim

By Michael Sove

When it comes to preparing your cell members for sharing their faith, at the minimum they need to be prepared to tell two stories.  First they need to be able to tell their story.  How they met Christ in a personal way.  They need to become proficient in sharing their personal testimony.  Then they need to tell “His Story.”  They need to be able to share the gospel in a clear concise manner as well.

Since evangelism is so important to the multiplication of cells, it is very important to have as part of your equipping track some kind of training in evangelism.  There are many excellent resources out there to train people in evangelism and it will come down to personal preference.  Here are some of the resources I have used:

Touching Hearts Weekend – Relational evangelism training with can be purchased from Touch Outreach Ministries at www.touchusa.org

Just Walk Across the Room – By Bill Hybels and can be purchased from zondervan.com

Share – By Joel Comiskey – This is part of his five book equipping series that can be purchased at the Joel Comisky Group web site www.joelcomiskeygroup.com

Obviously the best training is on the job training.  I make it a point whenever I think I might have a chance to share the gospel with someone to take someone with me.  This is a powerful way to show someone else how to share using these two stories as well.

How do you equip your cell members in evangelism?

Michael

by Mario Vega

In a cell church that has reached maturity, the story of a person who becomes a convert is often like this: the person is invited to attend a cell. The message of the Gospel is presented to the person there. The person becomes a believer in two or three weeks.

Once he or she has made a profession of faith, he will attend the Leader’s route/training once a week. Meanwhile, he will continue to gather in the cell and in the celebration service. He is surrounded by the atmosphere of evangelism taking place. The person joins up with others who already share their faith as part of their Christian life.

For this person to present the gospel to others becomes something very natural. He will soon be talking to his family, friends and neighbors about Jesus. He will gain experience in how to evangelize. He´ll learn by doing, even though he hasn’t received much training in the theoretical field. Why? because evangelism has been the environment in which he was born again and began to grow in his faith. It’s what he has seen other Christians do.

In one word, evangelism becomes a way of life. It is not seen as an activity to which he devotes some time on a casual basis, but it is part of an everyday life. This is what should take place in every cell church.

Comments?

Mario

Translation:

El evangelismo como estilo de vida.

En una iglesia celular que ha llegado a la madurez, la historia de una persona que llega a la conversión se producira de la siguiente manera: la persona es invitada a asistir a una célula. En ella se encuentra con una presentación del mensaje del evangelio. Muy probablemente terminará creyendo después de dos o tres semanas.

Una vez hecha su profesión de fe, comenzará a asistir una vez por semana a la Ruta del Lder. Mientras tanto, continuará reuniéndose en la célula y en la celebración. A su alrededor todo el ambiente es de acción evangelizadora. La persona misma se suma a otros que ya comparten su fe como parte de su vida cristiana.

Para esta persona el presentar el evangelio a otras personas se vuelve algo muy natural. Pronto estará hablando de Jesús a su familia, amigos y vecinos. Adquirirá experiencia en la evangelización. Aprenderá, haciendo. No ha recibido mayor formación en el campo teórico pero en el práctico el evangelismos ha sido el ambiente que lo vio nacer y crecer. Es lo que ha visto hacer a otros cristianos.

En una palabra, el evangelismo llega a ser una forma de vida. No se ve como una actividad a la que se dedica cierto tiempo de manera eventual, sino que es parte de la vida diaria. Esto, más o menos, es lo que debera ocurrir con cada cristiano en una iglesia celular.