A typical cell group contains 7-10 people, and meets once a week either in a house, a hall of residence or flats.
At the heart of the cell groups are three elements based on the key commands of Jesus - love God, love one another, and love the world.
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'This is the first and greatest commandment." -- Matthew 22:37-38 (NIV)
Jesus will be at the centre of the cell group. Prayer and worship are, therefore, integral to cell life. The cell group is a place where people meet with Jesus and are changed by Him.
"And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" -- Matthew 22:39 (NIV)
Cell groups are relationship based. They are a place where people meet and get to know one another and where honest trusting relationships are developed.
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." -- Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
Evangelism is a fundamental focus of all that happens in the cell groups. This should be ongoing, not based just around 'evangelistic events', but around a lifestyle of reaching out to others, motivated not out of a sense of duty, but out of compassion and God's love for those who do not know Him.
Jesus Centred - It is this value of cell group life that Christianity is all about - Jesus being at the center.
Every Member in Ministry - In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul describes the church as a body in which every member has a different yet essential part to play. Cell groups look to draw out skills and gifting - whether that is caring, praying, speaking etc, so that the whole Cell will be encouraged and function well. Cell life only thrives when all contribute.
Ongoing Discipleship - Christianity is a lifelong developing relationship with Jesus. It should be growing and maturing. Within the life of the cell group, this value challenges us to wrestle with problems, outwork our beliefs and become more like Christ - with the encouragement and accountability of others.
Exist in a Community - cell groups are communities - cell groups are not just meetings. In John 13 Jesus provoked love in his disciples by challenging them that the love they showed to one another would radically mark them out as his disciples. There is a craving for community in society; Cell is an attractive, inclusive, outward looking community that invites others to be a part of it. They are groups of caring, dynamic, committed relationships that exist out side of meetings and faciltitate discipleship and outreach.
Cell is a lifestyle - cell groups are about lifestyle - cell groups are about openess, honesty and sacrificial love. In that context by building an atmosphere for trust and deepening friendship we can learn to share each others lives - the good times and the bad. We can experience Jesus and grow in relationship with fellow group members, learning to love and care for others. Without that openess, there can be no real community.
Mission and Multiplication - cell groups multiply - this value of cell group life will impact our friends and communities so that people will be won to Christ. We must prepare for groups to grow by our friends becoming Christians. As a result, each cell group experiencing new life will multiply into two new cell groups. If we can build our structures, methods and materials around this vision and these commanded. Then we will see growth in our campuses.
The meetings tend to follow a rough format of Welcome, Worship, Word and Witness.
