When the church is small then we need strategies that make it grow. It is a fact that all the time people move in and out of the church and that can never be stopped. The solution of growth is in having less people leave than those that come in. When in health, 100 people are born and 80 in the mid years die the increase is 20. However because of medical advances the tide may be turned and whilist 100 are born the number of those dying goes down to 30 there is a natural increase.
We have a mega-nation! When we are able to retain more members and maintain the inflow, then we have a mega-church in the making. We must be serious about the people that keep leaving the church, like Jesus: When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” (John 6:12) Also look at Jesus way: “That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none” (John 18:9). How do we manage the leaving of people? Through diligent cell groups!
How then do you make sure that everyone participates in evangelism of their own community and bring the people into church without big and expensive programmes like crusades? Crusades are good but it is easier through the cell group because:
At crusades people are not very close to you as in is a cell group.
Follow up is easier in cell groups because those you bring personally you will easily see their going down than when thousands are at crusade
Cell groups need no special budget like the crusade
In the crusade, the speakers become the superstars but in the cell groups the whole body of Christ participates
After having said all, so do we do away with crusades?
Absolutely not, let us have them but they need to be in partnership with cell group systems.
When people get many in a Mega church people become just another face in the crowd. They feel alienated, lonely and aimless. The Sunday service of the local Mega church is like the Temple church that was in Jerusalem in the early church. However how could the early church manage the people with such a growth with only 12 apostles and 7 deacons:12-120-3120-8120-8385? The answer was simple: through smaller groups, house to house ministry, the cell church: let the deacons open up their houses so that people meet in smaller groups, have them invite friends and neighbours to their home meetings, bring them to the “Temple” on Sunday so that the pastor will not have to be visiting all 9000 people but frees him to prayer and ministry, preaching teaching and equipping the saints: Ac 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. We inspire people in large groups, life-change happens in small groups!
Ac 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. also look at Acts 16:40,Rom 16:3-5 and Phil 2.
According to John Wesley the most important part of the church is the cell church, the sections. He valued these and put more emphasis on the cell church than on the Sunday service. Being an ardent follower of John Wesley myself for years i see the results that this brought so much success to his organisation which later metamophesised into the Methodist Church. The cell is a group usually not of more than 20 families that meets under the banner of a church to bring church closer home and also to emphasise on discipleship, evangelism and fellowship. The cell is more advantageous in that:
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| The Importance of the cell group |
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| The Importance of the cell group |
How then do you make sure that everyone participates in evangelism of their own community and bring the people into church without big and expensive programmes like crusades? Crusades are good but it is easier through the cell group because:
At crusades people are not very close to you as in is a cell group.
Follow up is easier in cell groups because those you bring personally you will easily see their going down than when thousands are at crusade
Cell groups need no special budget like the crusade
In the crusade, the speakers become the superstars but in the cell groups the whole body of Christ participates
After having said all, so do we do away with crusades?
Absolutely not, let us have them but they need to be in partnership with cell group systems.
When people get many in a Mega church people become just another face in the crowd. They feel alienated, lonely and aimless. The Sunday service of the local Mega church is like the Temple church that was in Jerusalem in the early church. However how could the early church manage the people with such a growth with only 12 apostles and 7 deacons:12-120-3120-8120-8385? The answer was simple: through smaller groups, house to house ministry, the cell church: let the deacons open up their houses so that people meet in smaller groups, have them invite friends and neighbours to their home meetings, bring them to the “Temple” on Sunday so that the pastor will not have to be visiting all 9000 people but frees him to prayer and ministry, preaching teaching and equipping the saints: Ac 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. We inspire people in large groups, life-change happens in small groups!
Ac 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. also look at Acts 16:40,Rom 16:3-5 and Phil 2.
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| The Importance of the cell group |
- People are closer therefore know one another personally and this helps in times of need. The leader knows everyone personally.
Since it is like the smaller opening of the bigger net, evangelism is spontaneous. - It is smaller hence more manageable than the bigger service.
- It is a platform for the five-fold and other ministries to be fully trained and matured before great exposure comes by giving all members a chance to minister to others. It is here that the section leaders must discover, groom and release the gifting of individuals. Here all are free to participate.
- People feel like they are part and parcel of the revival going on, they take ownership of the vision.
- In it people are free to ask questions hence better understand, also share intricate details and prayer requests with fewer people.
- It is smaller hence easier to notice that someone has backslidden or is in need. Visiting the sick, helping people in need is easier.
- It is the easiest platform to retain members since Jesus is against wastage of resources especially human: Joh 6:12 “When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”
- The enemy of the industrious evangelist is the devil but in this fight, the cell leader and cell which does not preserve the harvest is his biggest let-down.
- We are a team and must work together to accomplish what the coach expects of us.
- Apart from Wesley, one of todays greatest church planter, David paul Yongii Cho has used this model to build a massive mega-church which was formerly regarded as the World’s biggest church which, as of December 2001 had more than 800 000 members.
