Doing LIFE together!

Posted by Bill on September 29, 2012

Small groups are groups of 5-12 people (believers, with or without un-churched friends), who meet in homes and other places each week for the purpose of “doing LIFE together”. (LIFE is an acronym for Living In Fellowship to Evangelise.)

In the context of mutual acceptance and love, healthy small groups aim at providing safe and intimate environments whereby strangers can become friends, and friends can become family. In this ideal setting, believers can discover, use, and develop their gifts, enabling their church to grow in health, strength, and love (Ephesians 4:16).

I believe, as a consequence of healthy, growing, and full of love small groups, our un-churched friends will be attracted to the church, and will, in time, taste the goodness and grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ – resulting in their salvation! Friends, we were created to do life together.

Oikos Transformation

Posted by Bill on September 22, 2012

A key factor in the incredible growth of the early church was the transformation of the traditional oikos structure (extended household). As it was, this ancient structure was far from the original design God had blueprinted for individual and community well-being, peace, and harmony. Indeed, the Holy Spirit had much work to do in transforming this defective structure.

The gospel message proclaimed a new family of God in which the members are all children of God and “brothers” in relationship with one another. Accepting one another in love implied a new way of relating to one another that was in tension with the conventional ethos of the ancient oikos. Radical changes needed to be made in human thinking … changes that would see slaves become brothers with their masters; husbands and wives submitting to one another, and loving each other in a new way; embracing racial and gender equality as a norm for new living; the unprecedented sharing of property and possessions; and an unconditional acceptance of one another that was based solely upon a personal belonging to Jesus Christ. Forgiveness within the oikos structure was now possible!

Praise the Lord, this oikos transformation phenomenon continues to take place today in the form of healthy cell groups. Functioning as love-gymnasiums, the cell is the ideal context where believers practice brotherly love on each other before exercising this love with un-churched family members and friends. The rate of oikos transformation is linked to the extent of brotherly love that is practiced on each other. As the practice this love increases, the transformation of our oikos increases. Although the Lord has accepted us ‘as we are’, He loves us too much to leave us as we are … transformation (sanctification) is the next phase in His salvation plan for our lives. The Father wants to make us like His Son in every way (Romans 8:29).

Would you like to see your Oikos transform a little more? It’s up to you. Don’t stand in the Lord’s way of transforming you a little more.

Healthy, growing and full of love!

Posted by Bill on

Small groups are not new.

They’ve been around in one version or another since the first followers of Jesus Christ. For Jesus’ disciples, meeting in homes was an integral part of ‘every day’ church life.

Today, a number of churches are experiencing amazing growth in spiritual health, maturity and size, because, besides the weekend services, their members are also meeting together in small groups to worship God, share Scripture, share life with one another, and reach out to un-churched friends through practical expressions of love.

If your church is serious about wanting to see explosive growth taking place in the lives of the members then the development of healthy small groups is the best way to grow.

Small groups are ideal contexts for building authentic community, godly servant-hearted leaders, and through which the Kingdom of God may be expanded. Therefore, our desire should be to establish expanding networks of small groups in the life of our church that will effectively … Equip God’s people to do His work, and build up the church … so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love (Ephesians 4:12,16).

ANCC in South Sudan needs help

Posted by Bill on May 19, 2012

CCI committed some time ago to support our dear friend Pastor Papiti Yowin and his church – All Nations Community Church in Malakal in Southern Sudan in prayer and any other means available to us.

Thanks to courageous leadership and a real vision of Pastor Papiti, this church is GROWING! Praise the Lord! And what is even more amazing is that even in the challenging and often harsh circumstances of Southern Sudan, Pastor Papiti and his congregation are doing whatever they can to develop their church facilities to meet the growing needs of the congregation and, even more importantly, the local community – so that God’s love and mercy can flow out of their church and make a real, positive impact in their town.

ANCC has already managed to construct a large part of the shell for a new school building to accommodate 8 classrooms – but because of the growth of the congregation they are also using it for regular worship for 750-800 people at a time! The ministry has also grown to the point where Pastor Papiti cannot continue in his job (he used to work to support himself as well as being the Pastor) and so he has left his job to minister full time, managing the church and helping to run the school (which is also expanding and cannot yet meet demand because of lack of facilities).

Pastor Papiti recently sent us some new pictures and has been keeping us up-to-date with the situation at ANCC, writing…

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Dear Pastor Bill,

My thanks are to you and all the members and supporters of CCI for your concern with ANCC ministries here in Malakal in the Republic Of South Sudan.

As you know, I have chosen to depend on on God since I received this vision for ANCC and I know He is the one in charge of it, that is why we have this rapid expansion without fear. I will continue to do what He wants me and our team to do, all the time depending on Him completely with whole our hearts. He has already enabled us to have a shelter for worship as well as school classes on other days. At the moment the sides are partially covered with bamboo and we use it for worship services on Sundays. When the structure is complete it will be able to accommodate 750 or 850 people. We are only temporarily using it for worship as it is meant to be 8 school classrooms by next year. Now every Sunday evening we divide it with some local materials into classes and remove them on Saturday evening, that is wisdom to us.

I really wanted to send you the detailed proposal for our needs so that you can put them on your website for people to see – but the only thing that always delays me is the network and power.

We have many problems in our new country and we really have challenges due to expansion of our ministries. I myself am no longer working to support my family now, I’m depending on His grace. Please continue to hold us up in your prayers. We have been so blessed, and feel sure that our God will provide for all our needs.

God bless you.

Pastor Papiti
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Dear friends, please prayerfully consider making a donation to support Pastor Papiti and the All Nations Community Church in Malakal, Southern Sudan.

If just 10 people donated $10 a week for one year, that would raise $5,200 – which by God’s grace would do truly amazing things to help this expanding local church in the heart of Souther Sudan.

If you feel led, just click on the PayPal button below.

Children in the Cell Church

Posted by Joel on

On a number of occasions when facilitating Small Groups’ Development conferences, a question I’m often asked is … “But what about children – what do we do with them in cells?” Good question. What about children? Can we incorporate them in the cells experience? My friend, Joel Comiskey, offers great advice on the subject of ‘Children in the Cell Church’. His counsel is simple and clear. It’s sound, and it works!

Joel says …

Jesus loves children. He said while on earth, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When He had placed His hands on them, He went on from there (Matthew 19:14-15). God loves children and prioritises them. So should we.

We know that children are the future, and in fact, they won’t be children very long. Some will even be our future leaders. U.S. statistics tell us that nearly half of all Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour do so before reaching the age of 13 (43%), and that two out of three born again Christians (64%) made that commitment to Christ before their 18th birthday (Barna, 2004). Of course, this may vary throughout the world, but the truth remains: we need to reach the children.

Cell churches prioritise children both in cell and celebration. I encourage, for example, churches to allow the children to stay in the adult cell for the icebreaker and worship time. During the Word time (Bible discussion), the children can leave the adult cell and receive a personalised Bible lesson directed by one of the cell members (if necessary, the members can rotate in teaching this time). It also works to show a Christian video at this time.

When children are consistently attending the cell group, pray that God provides an adult or teenager who desires to lead a children’s cell group. This might be someone from your own adult cell group, or from your church. The children can then meet with their cell leader in a different room of the same house for the entire cell meeting (or at least for the lesson part). This is a normal, permanent children’s cell group that promotes a similar cell order-icebreaker, worship, lesson, prayer and outreach. The church should provide material for the children’s cell leader and all the support necessary.

Another option is to hold small groups for children in various neighbourhoods around the city. An adult would lead this small group. These afternoon cells are a lot like the small groups of Child Evangelism Fellowship.

Children’s ministry on Sunday morning is also vital. You might not call it Sunday School, but it’s the same idea. Adults receive teaching during the celebration service, so shouldn’t the children? Yes, God calls children to celebrate and learn on Sunday.

This month on the JCG blog, we will be exploring different aspects of children in the cell church. Experienced cell church pastors will write 28 blogs on the topic of children in the cell church throughout the month of May. If you’d like to receive these blogs daily via email, please sign up HERE. We’ll cover:

Week 1 (May 06-12): Biblical Foundations. What is the biblical foundation for focusing on children? Jesus loves the children; the New Testament is a house church book and those house churches were filled with families with children!

Week 2 (May 13-19): The need to reach the children. Parents are the primary disciplers of their children and teens; Christian parents need to take this role seriously, both within the cell and outside it. Yet, so many children today have non-Christian parents who cannot bring up their children in the way of Christ. Children’s cells are a lifeline to those kids who need Jesus. Cell churches reach children in both cell and celebration.

Week 3 (May 20-26): Inter-generational Cells and Cells for Children. All generations should build each other up. We’re talking about living as an extended family (just like the early house churches). It is about putting the singles in families, giving Godly role models like the older women with the younger women.

Week 4 (May 27-June 02): Practical Guidelines for children in cells. We’ll talk about tips for children’s cells and what others are doing to minister to children in cell groups. We will also look at some pitfalls and how to avoid them.

What do you believe about children in the cell church? Please feel free to comment HERE.