Lesson XI - CELL GROUP SYSTEM

1. Make Disciples – Matt. 28:19; John 15:16

1. The command of the LORD is to make disciples of all nations.

Making disciples is more than preaching the gospel.

2. Every Christian is appointed and commanded by the LORD to do three (3) works, namely:

1. GO;

2. Bear Fruit; and

3. See to it that his fruit remain

The third work is making disciples.

2. How JESUS made disciples – Mark 3:13-15

1. JESUS spent almost all of HIS ministry years (3½ years) teaching and discipling a small group of 12 men.

2. JESUS “appointed twelve that they might be with HIM” (v. 14)

He had a close personal relationship with them. He taught them, exhorted them and rebuked them. HE showed them HIS life.

3. Then JESUS sent the disciples to apply what they learned. They came back to report to the LORD.

4. Then the whole process was repeated.

3. How the early Church made disciples – 2 Tim. 2:2

1. Paul trained Timothy

2. Then Paul instructed Timothy to transmit the same training and teaching to faithful men, who in turn will train other faithful men. The series of training is like this:

PAUL

TIMOTHY

FAITHFUL MEN (VERY FEW)

OTHER FAITHFUL MEN (VERY FEW)

4. The example of Moses – Exodus 18

1. Moses appointed able and faithful men to be leaders over thousands, leaders over hundreds, leaders over fifties and leader over tens.

2. The above is the strategy of the small group or cell group system.

3. The Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments, shows us the strategy of the cell group system.

5. How the Cell Group Operates.

1. The cell group is composed of a leader and his member who are his converts. We may call it the original cell.

2. The cell group meets once a week for about two (2) hours. They have fellowship, worship and teaching during this time.

3. The Leader encourages the members to evangelize by applying Psalm 126:5-6

4. The member who gains a new convert becomes the leader of a new cell. His member in this new cell (called a sub-cell) is his own new convert.

This sub-cell meets for two (2) hours every week in order to have fellowship, worship and teaching. This meeting is held on a time different from the meeting of the original cell.

5. The leader of any cell or sub-cell will always encourage all his member to have converts.

6. The four (4) Basic Function of the Cell

1. Every cell, whether the original cell or sub-cell, is performing four (4) basic functions namely:

1. Worship – John 4:23

2. Instruction or teaching – Matt. 28:20

3. Fellowship – Heb. 10:24-25

4. Evangelism – Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; John 15:16, Acts 1:8

2. When the cell is doing effectively these four (4) basic functions, then the cell is healthy.

LESSON XI - CELL GROUP SYSTEM

This is our last lesson in Module #1. It is called “Cell Group System.” This lesson is based on the command of the Lord in Matthew 28:19:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” 

MAKE DISCIPLES:

The command of the Lord is not simply to go and preach the Gospel. We do not stop there. The Lord says, “Make disciples of all the nations!” The command is for every Christian. And how do we make disciples? The Lord spoke to us in John 15:16. The Lord made this very, very clear to us. Jesus says you did not choose Me, but I your God, your Lord, chose you. For what purpose? I appointed you! Not only did Jesus choose us but also He appointed us.  The word “appointed” is very strong, stronger than “chose.”  Because when you are appointed to an office and you refuse to fulfill the duties of that office, then you are liable for imprisonment under the laws. You are expected to fulfill that work. And Jesus is saying to every Christian: “You did not choose Me but I chose you and appointed you to do three (3) things:

1. Go

2. Bear fruit;

3. See to it that your fruit remain.

Now the Lord knows that these three things are very hard to do and so the Lord gave this wonderful promise to us: “Whatever you ask the Father in My Name, He will give you” (John 15:16). This means anything. Ask anything in My Name so that you can bear fruit and your fruit will remain. And I guarantee that the Father will give you.

HOW JESUS MADE DISCIPLES:

How did JESUS make disciples? We will find that in Mark 3:13-15

“And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.” 

What is the Bible telling us? Jesus loved the multitudes. Jesus came in order to save all men. I believe He wanted to preach to thousands of people. But Jesus spent His three and a half years disciplining, teaching a small group of men. Just twelve men. What does this say to us? He spent His limited time here on earth training a small group of men. he used most of His time in making disciples! We ought to do the same. In fact, JESUS commanded us to make disciples.

What did He do with twelve men? The Bible says, “He appointed them.” Notice the word “appointed” again. He appointed them to be with Him. In effect, JESUS was saying to the twelve disciples. “I am appointing you twelve to be with Me night and day. You will eat with Me, you will sleep with Me, you will go with Me wherever I go.” The Bible is showing us that JESUS had a close personal relationship with His twelve disciples.

The word “disciple” is taken from the work “discipline”. The root word of that word “discipline” also means to be a learner. Our understanding of a learner today is different from their understanding of a learner during the time of Christ. Why? What is it to be a learner during the time of Christ? You do not enter a school, like in our time.

Supposing you want to be a carpenter. You want to learn carpentry. You will go to a master carpenter and you will live in his house. You will not only learn the trade, how to cut, how to saw, how to use the instruments, how to build a cabinet, etc. You will sleep in the carpenter’s house. You will eat with him and he will teach you his life, not simply carpentry. So, learning during the time of Christ was totally different from learning today. Today if you want to learn, you enter a school. And there you sit and listen to the lectures of the teacher whose life you hardly know. Then you take the examinations. You pass and that is it! No, that is not the way to learn during the time of Christ. Learning during the time of Christ meant that you must stay and live with and have a close personal relationship with the teacher. So you learned not only carpentry. That is exactly the meaning of “to disciple”.

Jesus had to get these twelve men and He said: “Come, come and live with Me and I will show you how to be fishers of men.” So what did Jesus do when He lived with disciples? Of course, He taught them, He exhorted them; He encouraged them. He also rebuked them. He said: “You of little faith.” He exhorted them: “Let not your hearts be troubled.” He taught them: “Take up your cross daily.”

Then JESUS sent the disciples out (Mark 3:!4). For what purpose? In order to apply what they have learned. So, there is a time of application. Then they came back to report to the Lord.

Now, I would like again to emphasize these things. Jesus is concerned with the multitudes, but He spent most of His time in training a small group. Jesus is our example, and so when Jesus said, “Go and make disciples”, then we are to spend most of our time training a small number of people. That is why to disciple means to concentrate your training on a small group of people.

HOW THE EARLY CHURCH MADE DISCIPLES

Let us look at the early church. How did they disciple? In the letter of Paul to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2:

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

Paul trained Timothy. Then Paul instructed Timothy: “The teachings and training you received, you transmit the same to faithful men, who in turn will train other faithful men.” The series of training is like this:

• THE EXAMPLE OF MOSES

One day, Moses was visited by his father in law, Jethro. You will find that story of book of Exodus chapter 18. Please read the entire chapter 18.

By the way, I believe that Jethro became a believer in the God of Moses. When we were in Indonesia, some claimed that the cell group was not of God. Why? Because according to them, Jethro, who proposed the cell group or small group system to Moses, was a pagan priest. It is true but read again Exodus 18. Moses and the elders ate bread with Jethro. Jethro rejoiced for all the good things that the LORD did to Israel (v. 9) and he blessed the true GOD (v. 10) and he said: “Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods… “ (v. 11). All these plus the fact that Jethro offered burn offering to the true GOD (v. 12) conclusively showed that Jethro became a believer.

When Jethro suggested the cell group to Moses, Jethro said “You ask your God, and find out if He will approve.” (v. 23) Moses, of course, consulted the Lord. Then Moses applied Jethro’s counsel after consulting God.

Why did Jethro suggest the cell group or small group? Jethro was observing Moses one day and the people were going to Moses from morning until evening (v. 13). There were about 2 million Israelites. Many of them had problems. One million! One million people with problems would be lining up before the sun rose and they all would like to talk to Moses. There was a long, long line. The sun had set and there were still plenty of people waiting to talk to Moses. Moses was already exhausted and so were those who lined up the whole day.

So Jethro said to Moses: “Moses, what you are doing is not good. You will wear yourself out. So, I suggest that you select able and faithful men and make them leaders over thousands, leaders over hundreds, leaders over fifties, and leader over tens” (vs. 17-21).  Moses implemented the suggestion after consulting the Lord, Oh that is the cell group system. You will therefore see that the Bible, in the New Testament has taught the strategy of the small group or cell group system.

WHO THE CELL GROUP OPERATES:

Let us say that I have five (5) converts. These are considered my fruits under John 15:16. And the Lord commanded me to take care of these fruits so that they would remain. We are going to have a cell group meeting for about two hours once a week.

What do we do in this cell group meeting? We have praise and worship, prayers for one another and study of the Word. In our study of the Word, we begin with Module 1, which are the subjects herein discussed. It is important that in teaching these subjects, we must obey and apply the Word in our lives. For instance, if the topic is about repentance, then we must repent; if the topic is about faith, the we must show faith in our lives; if the topic is about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, then we must received the baptism with the Spirit., etc.

As the leader of the cell, I lead the Bible study and I counsel members. From experience, we discovered that it is difficult to handle more than 10-12 members. So we limit that membership of the cell to not more than 10-12 members.

I encourage and challenge my members to evangelize. How? I will ask each member: “ Do you want somebody to become a Christian?” Usually the reply is, “Yes I have many people in my mind that I want to become Christian.’ But then I will say, “Just think of only one name and we will concentrate our prayers for this person. We will cry before the Lord, intercede for him, and even fast for his conversion.” I will challenge my entire cell to do this, sowing tears and fasting for sometime for this particular person that we want to be converted. Then after the time for prayers and fasting is over, I will ask my particular member to approach and tell the Gospel to the person we prayed for. Invariably, this person is converted. My member now has his own convert. However my member will not bring his convert to our cell. Instead, my member will become the leader of his convert and they will meet as a cell. This new cell is called a sub-cell and their meeting will be on a day different from our own cell meeting.

What I have done to one of my member who has now a sub-cell, I will also do to my other members. My other members will have their own converts and so they will become cell leaders and their cells will be known as sub-cells.

Note: The above procedure can be done also in the sub-cells, and so on. The objective is for every believer to bear fruit and to take care of his fruits (John 15:16).

THE FOUR BASIC FUNCTIONS OF THE CELL

Every cell, whether the original cell or sub-cell, is performing the four (4) basic functions of the church, namely:

1. Worship – John 4:23

2. Instruction (Teaching or Making Disciples) – Matt. 28:30

3. Fellowship – Hebrews 10:24-25

4. Evangelism – Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; John 15:16; Acts 1:8

How do we test the effectively of a cell group regarding the above four (4) basic functions? We ask the following questions:

ON WORSHIP

These question are asked to find out if the cell is effective in the worship:

1. Do they worship in spirit and truth? To worship in spirit means that the worshipper is born of the Spirit (meaning converted or born-again) and is led by the Spirit. To worship in truth means to worship according to the Word.

2. Are the gifts of the Spirit, like prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, etc., operating in the cell?

3. Are the praises abundant?

4. Are the members living holy lives?

ON INSTRUCTION OR TEACHING

We ask the following questions to find out if the cell is effective in teaching, namely:

1. Is the teaching clear and anointed?

2. Is it obeyed?

ON FELLOWSHIP

We ask the following questions to find out if the cell is effective in fellowship, namely:

1. Are the members of the cell open to one another?

2. Are they committed to each other, to the cell and to the local church?

3. Do they care for each other, trying their best to meet the needs of others.

4. Do they comfort one another?

ON EVANGELISM

1. Is every member of the cell evangelizing? If the answer is no, then something is wrong with the cell. If the answer is yes, then we ask the next question.

2. Do you have converts? If the answers is no, then something is wrong. If the answer is yes, then we ask the next question.

3. Is the member taking care of the converts?

Note that the above questions are very simple to answer and they can tell us whether the cell is effective or not in evangelism.

When the cell is doing effectively the above four (4) basic functions, then we can say that the cell is healthy.

CELL GROUP SYSTEM: GUIDE QUESTION

1. Must every Christian bear fruit?

2. What is the fruit of a Christian?

3. What do you do with your fruit?

4. How do you take care of the fruits the biblical way?

5. What are the four basic functions of the Church?

6. How would you know that your cell group is healthy?

ANSWERS:

1. YES, WHY? Because JESUS commands it.

2. Another Christian.

3. Take care of your fruit so the fruit will remain.

4. Through the cell group or small group.

Exo. 18:13-25, Mark 3:13-15, 2 Tim. 2:2

5. a) Worship

2. To Instruct or Teach

3. To Fellowship

4. To Evangelize

If all the four basic functions of the Church are properly performed by the cell group, the cell group is healthy.