Appreciating The Cell Church System

My post will focus on What is the Cell System, and Why the cell system. This is the only strategy for HEALTHY Church growth.

It is Easier to commit to something once you know why it is so...be blessed.

By Definition, a cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life (Wikipedia.org). ...The Body grows by multiplying and dividing of cells.

The Command/Advice from Jethro;
But select from all the people some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes. Appoint them as leaders over groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten. Ex 18:21 (NLT)

Early Church.
The Early Church was birthed in Acts with Cells. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity. Acts 2:46 (NLT)

Examples of New Testament Churches in Homes.
And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is the Messiah. Acts 5:42 (NLT).

Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home...Romans 16:5 (NLT)

..Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house. Col 4:15 (NLT)

...and to our sister Apphia, and to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church that meets in your house. Philem 1:2 (NLT)

Mission of Cells
 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Eph 4:16 (NLT)

Rationale for Cell System Strategy
(1) Healthy Growth; Cells are the Outreach force in Church. A Member invites neighbor/friends to share with them the gospel and encourage them. In this arena, the church has innumerable opportunities for growth.

(2) Preservation of the Saints; (Being your brother's Keeper), in a scenario where neighbors attend each church/fellowship/cell, most likely a member won’t do the wrong thing for fear of being castigated. Even then, he can be corrected in time.

(3) Care Unit of the Church; Members are in touch with one another, they know one who is travelling and for what purpose,  and when they intend to come back, did they leave a family behind? Who is looking after them? Why has member x not attended cell? who is sick? Who is having financial problems? The Cell members should be able to come in and help.

(4) Leadership Development Platform; as the Church grows, Cell leaders, Zone, District leaders, their assistants emerge, when these are empowered. They develop into empowered leaders and this creates a resource for the Ministry. It also helps advance the maturity rate of the church.

(5) Platform for Spiritual Growth; Facilitates rate of spiritual growth of members.  World Over, there is no Church Service where members ask questions; most are made to accept beliefs that they do not understand. The Cell system presents an opportunity for;
(i) Asking questions on matters of Dogma and tenets, and scripture for more enlightenment and understanding,
(ii) Making contributions and suggestions,
(iii)The leader gets an opportunity to correct member's beliefs, even with discussion should they have been twisted by earlier wrong teachings,

(6) Replication of the Presence of God in Houses (For Location Providers); The Bible records, …The Ark of the Lord remained there in Obed-edom’s house for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his entire household. 2 Sam 6:11 (NLT)

Are you hosting cell? Are you a Location Provider for God's Work, brethren, you have the presence of God in your house, take the un-usual blessing.
If you are not hosting cell, be quick and host a cell group of your church today.

(7) Enhances Spiritual productivity of the Leader/Pastor; the leader flees up time to enable him concentrate on spiritual growth. The simple cases among the sheep are solved at lower levels and only challenging cases reach the Pastor. Ref. Exodus 18.

(8) Enhances Communication; Suppose a Pastor has a message he would like to pass on in the middle of the week/any day, in these times, he does not have to wait for Sunday service, he will send say an sms to his district leader, who in turn sends to regional leader,...to zonal, to cell leader and to members within say 15 Minutes. What a blessing.

Quick help:
>A Cell meets Once a week preferably in the Middle of the week
>A Cell Reporting System should be in place to track attendance and participation, and for purposes of follow up.
>It’s preferred that cells be drawn from the Neighborhoods where it won’t be costly to meet and effective in checking in on each other. 

>A Basic Cell has 10 Members on Average (breaks into 2 when members hit 12)
10 Cells Make a Zone
10 Zones a Regional
5 Regional s a District

I Hope you will go out of your way to start cells/attend cells and above all, host cells and to grow them, more so to explain to your church members why.

Remember; the plane can’t fly without its pilot…the spiritual leader always takes the lead.

Go and win souls using the Cell System Strategy.

Emmanuel Tugume,
Pastor, The Praise Chapel.