By Joel Comiskey, Biblical Foundations for the Cell-based Church
A human body comprises around one hundred trillion individual cells that work together to produce a fully functioning human body. Small group-based churches (cell churches) function a lot like human bodies. Each cell is part of a greater whole and receives nourishment from other body parts. Each cell works together with the other cells to fulfill a common purpose.
Gathering those cells together in larger gatherings enhances that common purpose by ensuring cell health, reminding cells of the shared vision, and providing teaching that each cell would not otherwise receive.
The goal of the larger gathering of the cells is for each member to become more like Jesus. At JCG, we often talk about the small group but less about the larger gathering, commonly called the celebration service. What makes an excellent celebration service?
The fruitful cell churches worldwide carefully link cell ministry to the celebration service. During the larger gatherings, the lead pastor of a cell church can disciple those present through preaching God’s inerrant Word, worship, casting vision, direction, and offering encouragement. Cell leaders can easily be discouraged because of problems in the group, lack of fruit, or personal time commitments. Wise cell church pastors use preaching, announcements, testimonies, and other means to remind leaders of their eternal rewards, the great things God is doing, and the need for persistence.
Most cell groups use the passage or theme of the pastor’s message to guide the lesson. This allows the cell members to ask questions, gain clarification, and especially apply the spiritual truths taught in the sermon.
However, small group-based churches integrate children’s ministry, equipping, evangelism, and vision casting in larger gatherings. For July, let’s discuss how the celebration service connects cells and inspires cell members to persevere. Key pastors and leaders will share their experiences. Click here if you’d like to receive the daily blogs in your email. We’ll cover:
- July 07-13: The why of celebration: making disciples. The larger gathering is an opportune time to celebrate God’s purpose for the entire church.
- July 14-20: How can the celebration enhance cell life? We will discuss the place of celebration for vision casting, evangelism, and ministry, including more in-depth teaching and general announcements.
- July 21-27: Solid preaching and connecting preaching to cell ministry. We’ll discuss expository preaching and preaching themes, especially how those themes relate to the cell lesson.
- July 28-August 03: Vision casting and evangelism. We’ll discuss how vision casting and evangelism work in small group-based churches.