Cell Groups Can Become Churches

 Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement to Village Church Planters.

A glorious theme of the Scriptures is the theme of organic growth and multiplication.  In Genesis, God commanded the recently created Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the whole earth.”  God told Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation.” 

Jesus loved the theme of organic growth.  He said that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree and the birds perched in its branches. He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 27 kilos of flour until it worked all through the dough.” 

Can you imagine how big the dough ball would be if it were made from 27 kilos of flour and a little bit of yeast?  It would be huge! It would be huge because even though yeast is tiny, when given water, flour and a little bit of honey or sugar, yeast grows and multiplies and produces an abundance of carbon dioxide to make the dough rise and rise and rise and rise some more.

It’s clear from all these biblical teachings that Jesus loves organic growth and multiplication. He loves to see things that start small grow into a huge blessing.

Cell groups by definition are small groups of people who are learning to obey Jesus. Cell groups don’t look very big or imposing.  People put up signs for churches, but I’ve never seen a sign that says “Cell group meets here.”  Even so cell groups are full of power and full of potential. Even though they start small, they can make a huge impact.

Cell groups can multiply and form new cell groups.  Ideally every church you plant will have multiplying cell groups. Cell groups work best when they have between 5 and 20 members. If they get any bigger than that, fellowship breaks down.  Discussion and interaction is limited. So before your cell group has 20 members, identify one or two members to start new cell groups in another place.

But let me say this, some cell groups can grow to become churches. A great way to start a new church is to start a multiplying cell group in a village where there is no church, a village that is more than a 30 minute walk from your church. Let the cell group multiply until there are 3 or 4 cell groups.  Then bring the small groups together for large group worship.  Then, when you start large group worship, do not stop the cell group meetings. Let each group keep on growing and keep on multiplying itself.  But have all the cell groups come together for large group worship, for the Lord’s Supper, for baptisms and for giving tithes and offerings. These new cell groups, joined together, become a church.

Healthy cell groups that evangelize, study God’s word, pray and have fellowship together are a blessing to the church. So cultivate them.  Let them grow and multiply, use them to start new churches. Then rejoice in the glory of organic growth and multiplication.

This has been “Multiply.” And I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today?

 

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