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CCS October 2005 Newsletter

Jesus told His followers to wait in Jerusalem until they received the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew their witness would be futile without the heavenly Guide. The Holy Spirit transformed these timid disciples into bold martyrs. Just like the apostles, we need the Spirit’s power to make cell ministry work. Allow me to share five key principles from my latest book The Spirit-filled Small Group: Leading Your Group to Experience the Spiritual Gifts(Chosen Books, 2005).

Principle #1: the Holy Spirit wants to fill us today.

Many leaders look back at the good ol days when the Spirit of God descended-- instead of depending on Him right now. Effective cell leaders are absolutely dependent upon the Spirit’s fullness to guide them right now. They forget the good ol days and earnestly receive the Spirit’s fullness today. Other leaders (and entire denominations) resist the Spirit’s fullness because of controversial arguments about baptism versus filling. While writing this book, I really grew to appreciate the writings of Craig Keener (The Gift Giveris a must read book). Keener, a Southern Baptist professor who had a Holy Spirit experience similar to my own, writes, “If we could get past some semantic debates in our discussions about the timing of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we would have more time available for the more practical questions surrounding the Spirit’s empowerment. Nearly all Christians agree, for example, that all Christians have the Spirit by virtue of being born again. We also agree that we all should regularly experience a Spirit-filled life, walk in the Spirit, depend on the Spirit’s power in our behavior and witness, and be open to experiences from God’s Spirit subsequent to conversion.” Let’s ask the Spirit to fill us today!

Principle #2: spiritual preparation is more important than lesson preparation.

Jim Egli’s excellent statistical survey of 3,000 cell leaders clearly demonstrated that the leader’s spiritual preparation is more important than lesson preparation. Those cell leaders who prepare themselves spiritually are ready to meet unexpected and often wild demands of cell ministry. Keys to spiritual preparation include: spending time with Jesus before the meeting begins, daily devotions, and praying continually for cell members. Spirit-filled leadership is the key to making cells work effectively.

Principle #3: The cell group is a hospital where the Holy Spirit is healing the patients.

The Holy Spirit’s business is transformation. He wants to heal wounded people. Edification literally means reconstruction. The local church as we know it is simply not healing and transforming the hearers. Barna’s recent North American research analyzes how millions of committed Evangelical Christians are leaving the church in order to serve God. The Spirit is doing a new work through the cell church to transform lives.

Principle #4: expect God to move in the group through the gifts of the Spirit.

Seven pastors met in my home recently and our topic was spiritual gifts. Some were more charismatic than others. We all agreed, however, that emphasizing spiritual gifts in the cell produces expectation among the members. Without this emphasis, it’s easy to fall into a cell routine (i.e., rut). We need to expect the Spirit to move in the cell group through the gifts of the Spirit. Scripture says that God has given one or more primary gifts to each believer. I believe, however, that the Holy Spirit often breaks our tight gift boxes and equips people with new gifts as He determines ( See my new article about the situational versus constitutional view of gifts).

Principle #5: cell pastors and leaders need to recognize and utilize the spiritual giftedness of everyone in the cell.

Many leaders become burdened by cell activity because they fail to identify and use gifted members within the cell (chapters 6-8 cover each spiritual gift and how to identify and use it in the cell). I believe, for example, that God has placed an abundance of service/helps/generosity gifts in His body A wise cell leader will ask cell members with such gifts to organize activity, call people, send in cell reports, etc. Often those gifted with one of the service gifts feel unused when not asked to serve.

God has given us His complete arsenal. All His gifts are active today and need to be unpacked. The cell is the best place to make that happen. Let’s go forth in victory and watch Him work within us.  

CCS News

**I’ve now posted my 2006 seminar schedule. Check it out.

**CCS board meeting on February 23-24, 2006. All suggestions are welcomed.

**Copies of The Spirit Filled Small Group: Leading Your Group to Experience the Spiritual Gifts (Chosen Books) are available at www.cellchurchsolutions.com and Christian bookstores.

**The CCS blog, slated to start in January 2006, will be postponed to start in September 2006.**My current book focus is to create a five-book training track to be published in September 2006 ( Scott Boren is the editor). The book titles are:

 

 

 

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