 Coming to discipleship and small groups, we looked at some of the basics, the introduction in last class. I think the last topic that we looked at was about having a holistic cell group, holistic meaning a cell group that's inward-looking, upward-looking, outward-forward-looking and to have that perspective and to do everything possible to maintain that wholesomeness. Don't want to use the word balance because it might be like middle-of-the-road kind of thing. There might be seasons when the group is inward-looking and working on that aspect. There could be times when you're upward-looking and it's a continuous thing which happens. To develop the cell group in that manner so it can be effective and not become kind of leaning towards one thing only and the cell group develops in all aspects. We looked at that, I think we ended with that. Let's look at, let me just share the notes and then we'll continue on. What we'll look at today is how to lead a cell group meeting. We've been talking about the cell group model, the vision of the cell group ministry and also the focus of it which is discipleship. It is not discipleship alone, we can use it, the cell group can also actually function as an evangelistic team and so on but primarily which means the main thing is discipleship. We also saw how it was different from what do you call as a care cell or a cottage prayer meeting or a house prayer meeting or in a Bible study, we saw that it was different. We looked at some of those differences where in a cell group the leader is not actually preaching a message, he or she might summarize, might give a synopsis just to remind all the cell group members about what happened on a Sunday meeting, what happened in church, the sermon that we heard just to remind the cell group but we see that the cell group leader is more of a facilitator to enable the cell group members to share, to share their maybe their questions, ask doubts, to share about their learning, how do they apply the message that they heard on Sunday and this particular truth itself, how deeply is ingrained in them, all those things. So they are looking into the word of God, so it is a Bible study, we are studying the word but it's going much deeper in the sense that there are questions being asked and answers being provided, it's going much deeper in the sense there is a discussion rather than one person just giving a message and the meeting getting over. So how to lead a cell group meeting, how to lead a great cell group meeting, let's look at that. The first one is of course a favorable environment, it's up to us to create a favorable environment, it talks about the physical environment of course meaning let the place be comfortable, let the place be clean, is there anything that would distract, anything that would hinder the people from not being part of it, is there anything like that, is there a place to sit etc., is a place clean, is it, so just a simple thing, so a favorable environment and also is it noisy, is there anything distracting, because I remember once having a live group, like this is years back, so we used to have a live group in different live group members, oh sorry, this is even before we started live group okay, so we used to just meet as friends and have some Bible studies and we used to meet in different places and I remember this one particular place where we met and the host of course someone else was leading, we had someone who was leading the Bible study but the one who actually gave that space, the host, his intentions were good, he just wanted to be a good host, make sure everybody gets their snacks and so on but then there were too many interruptions, he ordered snacks from someone from one of the shops nearby, so here we are having a Bible study and in 10 minutes into the Bible study somebody comes with plates of chart and of course everybody is glad that the charts are there and we wanted to have some of those Baal Puris but the thing is it was an interruption then and then we had that okay fine because we had to stop, pause, study okay, we continued and then maybe after another 20 minutes something else, so he just wanted to make sure that we were all well fed but then it was a lot of interruptions and it didn't really help, so a favorable environment would talk about that, what goes on, the physical place itself etc, some simple things, praise and worship and spiritual atmosphere, so have a time of worship, have a time of worship right at the start, maybe have a time of singing, it doesn't always have to be singing, we understand that but singing definitely helps us to get into to be able to praise God, to be able to worship Him, so maybe there is someone who can lead in singing, sometimes we get the thing that people saying that there is no one, there is no musician, there is no one who can lead us, so in such cases we can just maybe play the music, play an MP3, play it on an audio system and worship together, worship along, sing along and worship the Lord, maybe someone can after a song or two can pause and then give time for people to just open up and praise God out loud and maybe people can take turns to praise God out loud, so all this can be done, but to have a time of praise and worship, whether there are people to lead in worship or not, we can do that. Christ centeredness is the life of the cell, so what happens is if I'm a leader leading a cell group, keep the focus on the word, keep the focus on Jesus, well there could be times when we are sharing testimonies, maybe life testimonies and so on, but keep the focus on Jesus, even in the testimony, let it not be focused on the self, how good we were and how in faith we stirred and how we overcame, well all that is true, but turn their attention back on Christ, how the grace of God enabled, how the cross of Christ enabled, for example. The third thing, the fourth thing to ensure that happens is prayer, so you have worship, then the focus is on the word, you make sure that there's a physically and otherwise the environment is pleasant and comfortable and conducive, then have prayer, prayer maybe for the leadership of the church, prayer for the families, prayer for all the members of the cell group and yes, people might have some specific needs, they might be going through some specific challenges, so give time for that, give time for that and one good thing to do would be to regularly keep praying for various things and maybe keep a notebook, maybe keep a file where you are entering these prayer requests and it'll be good to look into it and see how God has wonderfully answered these prayer requests as well and it can be a time of thanksgiving and gratitude to God as these prayer requests get answered, so you can do that, pray for Oiko's contact, when you say Oiko's it means a household, a point of contact, especially for those families and those family members or maybe those people whom we know who have not yet received Christ, we can pray for that contact, that person whom God has prepared, who will open the door for others, in addition to that person being open to the gospel, will also facilitate others in the household, will be like an influencer of the household to share the gospel, so pray for that contact, well it's good for the life group leader to not give up the leadership, it's good in the sense it's important but also to be able to delegate certain responsibilities, maybe somebody can facilitate, in one particular cell group meeting, someone else can facilitate, so you see that you notice as a cell group leader, you notice that there are some people who have the potential to become leaders, who have the heart to become, to minister in this manner, who have a heart for ministry, so the best way to develop them is to give them opportunities to facilitate a cell group meeting and say okay this particular day when we meet you lead the meeting, so you're there as a leader but then you're given the delegating the responsibility to them and so you can discuss about how they've already been watching, they've already been seeing how you lead the meeting and of course you can discuss after the meeting also one on one and say okay how it helped and what was the learning and so on, so delegation, so you delegate based on their heart for the Lord or heart for the Lord and the zeal for the Lord and also their heart for ministry, so don't do anything to feed the ego, like suppose somebody says you know I've been traveling, I've been doing this, I do that and therefore you need to give me an opportunity to share, you don't have to do that, what is the motivation, why do they want to serve, why do they want to grow up to be a leader, is it for personal gain or is it for personal fame, what is it, do they want to look good in front of the group, see all these are wrong motivations, so do not feed that or do not give into that but if the motivation is right then you give them an opportunity as leaders, sensitivity to visitors and unbelievers, now that's another thing, suppose it might happen that on a particular cell group meeting somebody brings a friend along, they just brought them along, they were also there and they brought them along and maybe you have visitors in the house who are not believers, so be sensitive to their presence and what they believe in, so don't condemn other religions, practices etc, so don't make fun of it, don't condemn it but focus on the Lord, focus on proclaiming Jesus, then you can be creative in the cell format presentation and facilitation of the word, so as we've been saying that it's not one person preaching, it's not a sermon, it's a discussion, so it can be creative, you can ask people to maybe write down certain things, even the worship itself can be creative, the discussion can be creative, you can ask them to write certain things, you can ask them to act out certain things, you can make it interesting, be creative, you can ask people to draw and show, so it depends on what the sermon was about and what we are going to be discussing, because I don't know if I remember sharing with this group, but I remember a long time ago when we were talking about, I think this was when we were in a youth camp many years ago, so this person, this speaker who came, he was actually talking about, he was, the topic was not who we are in Christ, but really, I mean he didn't phrase it that way, this was many years back and then, but he just wanted to, this was the activity, activity, the page one of the activity, we had to draw something, so we had to draw what we felt we were like, not write down, but draw, so plain piece of paper, you're giving a pencil, pen, you need to draw what you felt like, felt like what you, what you were, okay, so many people drew, we started drawing and on the other side, we had to draw what you would be along with Jesus, it's typically a who we are in Christ kind of a message and activity, but on the other side, with Christ, with Jesus, did you feel the same way, you had to write out, I mean we have to draw out that, okay, so many people wrote, it was kind of good, I mean it was very nice to see, interesting to see the kind of creativity which people, so like one person drew a candle on one side and the candle was not lit, there was no flame, then on the other side, with Christ, because I know Jesus, because Jesus is with me, the person actually drew a flame on the candle saying, okay, now I'm a candle with the flame, now I have meaning, purpose, I'm giving light, shining light, dispelling darkness, no kind of thing, so they, these kind of things, so a certain meeting may not be or should not be a one-sided thing, it has to be something where everybody participates, not everybody will be very expressive with their words, like some people might be shy, some people might be introverted, so it will take some time, it will take some time for people to begin to open up and begin to share, but if as a leader we prepare and we ask God for creative ideas, how can I facilitate this, how can I bring home this truth and ask people to do this, maybe something they can paint, something they can draw, something they can act out, not all the time, maybe some one aspect of that discussion can be there, so this will help, okay, so creative cell group formats or presentations and maybe, you know, we're talking about a group which is 12 or 15 adults, I mean people, I'm not saying in number, we're also talking about maybe six couples, right, so it is a kind of a small group, it is not a big group, it is not a big gathering, so you can even think of, okay, you know, on a particular month, well the cell group, we are going to be meeting somewhere else, we are going to be meeting in a park, we're going to be meeting, you know, going elsewhere and meeting and we can think of, okay, maybe that particular day's discussion is intercession and you can say, okay, we are going to be meeting, in this place or on this mountain top and we are going to be praying for our city, as we look at all the houses that are there, you know, from the top of the mountain, we are going to be praying over the city, so make it creative, see how best you can do it, right, okay, allow people to discuss and ask questions, you know, that's the key, we are developing disciples, we are helping people and in the process, we ourselves are being developed, we ourselves are being built up, so we take people from being believers to becoming disciples, to becoming ministers, to becoming leaders, right, so we are helping people go through all that and so that will happen only when people discuss or if they have doubts, if they have questions, if they have the freedom to ask and get answers, if they have freedom to ask questions and everybody looks into the word or people who already know the answers, you know, the answer based on the word saying this is what it is, so then there is learning, then there is, the questions are being answered, so there is growth, right, okay, so after the meeting formally ends, meet and follow with visitors, new cell members, et cetera, right, now there also could be, you know, there could be conflicts because, you know, it involves people, right, so there could be people not getting along with other kind of people, right, in the cell group itself, maybe there could be some differences of opinion and because of which they are not able to get along, there could be conflicts for various reasons but the thing is to resolve them, right, to be able to solve those conflicts, to be able to solve those problems and we need to do that, so, you know, in another section we're going to look more into the details of that, so, but the thing is to have that mindset, okay, if there is a problem, if there is a, you know, a relational thing, if there is a conflict, well we are going to address it, we're going to solve it, okay, and not let it go, right, okay, okay, so what do we do with, one of the questions is, okay, if it's a family group, right, you have children, now what do we do with children, okay, so children can be part of the group, they can have, you know, it depends on the age of the children, right, if the children are, you know, kind of, if they are 10, 11, 12, they can be that by themselves, they can play by themselves or they can have an activity, maybe somebody from the cell group can, you know, take responsibility and say, okay, this particular meeting I will take care of the kids, I will teach the children, I will, you know, make sure that they have an activity, right, so somebody who's gifted to be with children, to minister the children can do that or the children can watch something and at the same time when the adults are meeting and having their meeting, the children can also learn something, watch something, maybe read something, maybe one of the older kids can, you know, all the children can read something, you know, maybe a Bible story, maybe handle an activity, maybe, so there is also, they are also involved, right, so rather than looking as children as someone who's inconvenient for the meeting, we can actually involve that, you know, many times in our home, in our house, the kids used to, they used to watch a video, they used to watch some songs and of course there will be some issues, you know, there will be some problems used, you know, in between somebody will start crying because somebody started fighting with the other, so all that will be there, you know, that's the reality, you know, meeting as families, but it's all part of that, right, so don't look at them as inconveniences but involve the children, plan something for them, so it's going to take some effort to plan something for them, right, so that they are occupied during this time and it's good if it's something similar to what, you know, the adults are doing, okay, maybe the adults are looking at, you know, the sermon, maybe if someone can do it for the level of the children, the same message, maybe something else, how can that apply for children, you know, if someone can do that then that'll be, that'll be wonderful, right, and people can take turns to do that, okay, here are some guidelines, family cell groups, you know, maybe they need equipment, okay, I don't know how to handle kids, I don't know how to, maybe if people are saying I don't know how to handle them, I don't know how to, you know, get equipped, maybe read something, watch some videos, find out, contact the children's pastor, find out, and do the same thing, right, so, well, one thing to keep in mind is that when we start with worship, when we start or maybe end with prayer, children can be part of it, right, they can also be part of the worship time, they can maybe sing along, they can maybe lead in some of the songs, and also pray at time, right, so they can, so what is happening is that they're learning, right, they're learning that, okay, this is what happens in a cell group meeting, this is, these are some things that happen, and so, you know, they are learning as well, okay, yeah, I think this is what we saw, this is what we read just now, okay, so when it comes to the cell group leader, okay, we'll look at this section, and then we'll probably take questions, okay, so according to this model, you know, that we see only the committed members of the church can be trained or are developed to become leaders or appointed as leaders, okay, so it's not like somebody who's visiting, somebody who's part of another church, right, like they might have leadership qualities, you know, they might be running their own ministry, and they might be, like they might be doing other things, they might be, you know, wonderful, they might be wonderful minister of God, but a cell group leader is one who's committed to the church, is part of the church, is committed to the church, is part of the vision of the church, okay, so why is that, because one is the part of the vision of the church, they align to the vision of the church, they understand why do we have this, why do we have cell group meetings at all, right, the second thing is that they have oversight, spiritual oversight, you know, they are accountable, well, the leadership or maybe there is a cell pastor, maybe there's a coordinator who's going to ask them some questions, you know, he did we meet today, did we meet this week, the cell group hasn't met in a while, you know, any particular reason, and they're going to be asking some questions, so you're accountable, you know, if something wrong is happening in the cell group, if the cell, you know, if the cell group leader is like totally going off on a tangent, then there is accountability, so the leader, the leadership of the church, the pastor maybe is going to ask some questions, you know, this is what we, you know, this is the direction that we want to go, and you know, maybe we need to make some course correction, right, you know, what you're doing in the cell group needs to change a bit, right, why don't you try this, right, so they will bring in that correction, so that'll be, that'll be part of it, so therefore the cell group leader needs to be part of the church, very important, needs to be a member of the church, right, when you say a member, you know, becomes a formal member, which means they've taken that step to be committed to the church, so this is a very important thing, this might seem like a very, you know, small thing, or it might seem like, you know, why are you, you know, getting into all these formalities, but the thing is, it's, it works both ways, when somebody is committed, when somebody is a member, when somebody is known to the leadership, then you're able to, you're able to trust that person, right, you're able to trust that person, train that person, and entrust this responsibility of leading a life group, the cell group, to the person, right, so unless somebody is committed, unless somebody is a member, you cannot do that, you cannot entrust that responsibility, so you make sure that the person is a committed member, like part of the church comes to church, you know, takes part in the activities of the church, in the life and, you know, life of the church, and so is a committed member, right, so that's one thing. The second thing is that, you see that the members or the cell group leaders should also be equipped, right, spiritually, so one needs to ensure that, okay, so they need to have their fundamentals, the basic things in place, basic doctrines in place, so as a church, APC has the biblical foundations course, which talks about, you know, the nature of God, talks about salvation and sin and holiness and faith and who we are in Christ and worship and the sacraments of the church and so on, so these basic things, one has to have a knowledge and understanding of it, in order to be able to, like personally to be strong in this, to have an understanding and also to be able to teach others, lead others, right, then the third thing we all always make sure is that they are also trained to be cell leaders, cell group leaders, right, and so they go through the training, you know, and training is something, the material that we are going through is what they will go through also, they will go through this and then get an understanding of, okay, this is what a cell group is, these are the dos and don'ts, this is the expectation of the church leadership from the cell leader, this is what is expected, these are some things that are not expected, so the cell group leader is clear in his or her mind, okay, this is what we can do, this is the big picture, this is why we are doing cell group, so it would actually set the person for success, right, the whole training would actually help, you know, set the person to do well as a leader, to be equipped as a leader, to face some of the problems that might come up, and to have a realistic expectation, you know, like, the person should not think, oh, you know, if I, what is, what, this happened, you know, why did it happen, how, you know, is it supposed to, all those things are, you know, put to rest in the sense, yes, as a cell group leader, you can expect this, excuse me, so to say, okay, as a cell group leader, you know, you can expect this, this is the reality, if there are children, this is what will happen, so you'll be prepared, there are different kinds of people, and so, you know, this is what these, maybe some might, you know, behave in a certain way and do these things, you'll be, you know, ready for that, so if there are problems, you know, this is how you face it, so the training would cover that, so that they are equipped, okay, let's look at some of the responsibilities of the cell leaders, okay, some of the responsibility, one is preparing for the cell group meetings, so studying the word and preparing for discussions, now the preparation is, you know, one, the preparation, the key basic thing is, of course, quiet time with the Lord, there's nothing that can replace that, so as a leader, as a cell group leader, I need to have my, you know, personal disciplines of prayer and worship and word, and my personal time with God in place, okay, and then, you know, all these other things would apply, okay, so what are these other things, one is to prepare for the cell meetings, you know, who's going to be coming, you know, what is the content, right, so study that, be sure of that, and also think of ways to have the discussion, you know, what are some questions that you can ask, well, the cell lesson itself has some discussion questions, I think I shared it with, you know, the sermon outline comes, which is on the website, church website, would come with a cell lesson, you know, life group lesson, as it's called, so it has, it gives a, it's a guideline, okay, this is what you can do in a, in a meeting, so some, some scriptures to read, some questions to discuss, and some guidelines what to do after that, so it is there already, so, you know, you go through it, you prepare that, and anything additional that you want to do, you know, during the time of discussion, how do you want to facilitate it, think about that, plan that, pray about it, and, you know, be prepared with it, guiding the discussions to the cell, through the cell meeting, now that is another thing, now this is another thing that the person needs to be familiar with, and, you know, sometimes maybe with practice, right, it becomes, it becomes easier, right, so maybe people are sharing, you know, you could have a situation where nobody wants to speak anything, nobody wants to say anything, it's all quiet, okay, so to be able to ask pointed questions, right, what do you think, you know, this is what we looked at Sunday, you know, the ways by which we can receive from God, that God has already done it, the Lord has already done it on the cross, and it is His will and desire that we receive it, walk in it, so, and these are ways by which we can do it, so, you know, have you tried it out, you know, what are some of the ways by which, any testimonies about, so you ask these pointed specific questions, which enable people to open up and share, okay, you know, going beyond, okay, does anyone have anything to share, you know, that's a very open, kind of open, maybe people might want to share, people may not, you know, that they don't feel like talking, they're just all quiet, and nobody's saying anything, so it's up to us as self-group leaders to take that first step, and maybe, you know, self-group leader himself or self-kid share, and then from there, as people are listening, maybe they feel interested to share, so, another one shares, or maybe they just need a little bit of encouragement, a little bit of drawing out, right, and then asking them to share, so that can be done, okay, to guide the discussion, so, during the discussions also, it is possible that the discussion might go off in a different direction altogether, you know, this is the topic, and then people are, begin slowly, begin to talk about, you know, their personal things, and, you know, hey, you know what, this is what happens, so to bring back the discussion, to bring back the focus onto the topic of discussion is the responsibility of the self-group leader, okay, so that is also guiding the discussion, facilitating the discussion, and also to move forward to the next one, the next point, or the next thing, which is being planned, is the responsibility of the self-group leader, so the self-group leader takes that initiative to step in and say, okay, I think we've discussed, you know, we've discussed sufficiently, we've had a good discussion on this, now let's look at this other thing, okay, now no one else will do it, the self-group leader has to do it, the self-group leader has to guide the discussion, okay, set a godly example, influence people through life contact, disciple, cell members, so set a godly example through your life, through your speech, through your actions, through your lifestyle, let it speak to the people, right, everything else about you, let it speak to the people, lead by example, okay, pray for all cell members, you know them, and slowly they begin to, you begin to hear about the challenges they might be facing, and also some things pointedly, specifically that you want to, you know, you want to see in their lives, maybe some breakthrough, pray for cell members, follow up with individuals during the week, so this is outside of the cell meeting, you see that, okay, you have the cell meeting, and then you are, you know, as a cell group leader, the cell group leader is doing certain things, now outside of the cell meeting, okay, the cell group meeting is over, now apart from that, during the week when the cell group is not meeting, what can the cell group leader do, of course to pray for the people, and also maybe to follow up, maybe to send an email, maybe to send them an SMS, a WhatsApp text to find out how they were doing, maybe they need some encouragement, right, maybe they need some prayer support, maybe whatever, they need some counsel, so to be able to do that during the week, or maybe just to catch up, you know, what's happening during the week, you said this was, this was bothering you, you know, is everything okay, just to give a call during the week, okay, lead cell members in ministry and outreach to help them, to share the gospel, maybe they need some equipping, lead them in outreach, lead them in ministry, maybe somebody would want to do some kind of, you know, they have a ministry of compassion, and they feel that, okay, the poor and needy, they need to be helped, and just understand that, okay, in what way would they want to do ministry, what has got placed in their heart, right, what has got graced them with, and recognize that, and help them with that, help them recognize it, help them discover it, maybe they notice that, you know, every time you see the, you know, the poor people, I see that you're drawn to them, and you want to do something, why don't you, why don't you think about doing something on those lines, why don't you ask God to do something, to open up some doors, so that, you know, you can begin to, you know, do something with your resources, with your time, and maybe help them, why don't you do that, so, you know, helping people in the life group, in the cell group, to get started in serving others, in outreach, right, okay, encouraging cell members to evangelize, again, you know, this intentionally to share the gospel, to have conversations with others about Christ, maybe their testimony, how they got saved, and so on. Developing cell group members into leaders, now this is also something, now what would help is to, well, maybe not all are interested, maybe not all are, you know, have that same kind of gifting to be cell group leaders, but those who are, you know, whom you identify and whom you see that have the potential, they have the heart, they have the, maybe the shepherd's heart, you know, they want to care for people, they want, they are, well, they are interested in the spiritual life of the people, of the people, you know, they are interested, they care for the character, the testimony of other people, and so they are, you know, burdened about that, then they want to do something about that. So these are some things to notice and say, okay, this person really has a heart for developing people, he's an encourager, he's building up people, so, you know, why don't we develop them as leaders, giving them opportunities, you know, equipping them, maybe, and so that eventually they can start their own cell group, okay, and more people can be part of that, you know, so here we have 12 people, now if they start, now you have 24 people who are actually being discipled, you have 12 here and 12 there, right, so there is growth, there is multiplication in developing disciples, right, so it's why it's important to develop cell group members into leaders, okay, ministering to the needs of cell members, council support, imparting the vision of the church, always, you know, to point, so this is another thing, you know, crisis at the center, no compromise, and because we are part of, or committed to the local church and the life group ministry is also, or the cell group ministry is also part of that church that we are committed to, from time to time to draw people to the vision of the church, right, okay, this is why we are doing this, to remind people about the vision of the church is also the responsibility of the cell group leader, right, be accountable to the cell pastor and to the church, maybe the church might say, okay, why don't you attend this meeting, why don't you, you know, once the cell groups are, meetings are conducted, maybe keep us informed, send a small report, you know, these are some, maybe some administrative responsibilities, or some other kind of responsibilities, right, will be accountable to that, okay, so be aware of it, be accountable to those responsibilities, to the leadership as well, okay, so that's about the responsibility of the cell group leader, okay, now this might be different for, you know, different churches, this might be different for different ministries, but we're just putting together, you know, what would generally apply in most cases, and also specifically for, you know, APC as a church, and this model of cell group ministry, which is followed by APC, right, okay, so 950, we'll take a break, we'll come back in 10 minutes, okay, thank you.