Developing spiritual gifts in small groups

One of the most encouraging things for me of being part of a small group is seeing people discover their gifts and grow in them. This happens in a number of different ways, often over a period of time as the group develops and learns to trust each other.

I just want to take this opportunity to outline a few ways that the group that you are a part of could encourage its members to discover and use their gifts. Some of this you could do by looking at the three main areas in the New Testament where gifts are mentioned:

1) Romans 12: 4-8. The gifts listed here are often described as ‘motivational gifts’, and it can be helpful for a group to look at them together and discuss which of the gifts each person identifies with. You could then pray around some of the challenges that might present themselves in using or developing these gifts.

2) 1 Corinthians 12: 8-10. Often described as the ‘supernatural gifts’, this is often the list that first comes to mind when we think of gifts in a Biblical context. Again, it can be helpful to read this passage and discuss where we have each experienced the Holy Spirit using these gifts through us.

Also perhaps you could put a simple definition around each one of them so that we understand more fully what the words are expressing. This can naturally lead to us identifying either those areas where individuals would like to see God use them more, prompting us to pray around those situations or a restoration of the use of these gifts where maybe they have been lost.

3) Ephesians 4: 4-13.  This is the third main passage that comes to mind when talking about gifts. Often described as the ‘five-fold ministry gifts’, the ones listed here are often talked about in the context of leadership, although it seems very clear from the  passage that these gifts are available to the body and not just for leaders. The statement that these should be used to equip the saints for ministry also seems to be an implicit encouragement that we should all to some degree be developing each of these gifts.

In light of this, it would be interesting to have a conversation in your group about how those of us that are, for example, more pastoral could encourage those of us who are not so minded to become more so. And how those who are evangelistic could encourage others to increase their expression of that gift. And so on, taking each of the gifts in turn. The passage suggests that as we grow together towards maturity each of us demonstrates more of the fullness of each of these five gifts.

One of the key questions for me as we think about these gifts is how we use them, both in our small group and, perhaps more importantly, beyond it. What does it look like for us to use these gifts at home, out shopping, at work etc? I was speaking to a friend recently who is developing his use of the gift of knowledge and has taken the opportunity to pray for people that have called at his house to fix various appliances over the last few months, gently sharing his insights and offering to pray for them, much to their surprise and encouragement.

So let us help each other discover our gifts, grow in them and use them.

Fey and Colin Holtum, retired grandparents, are serving as short-term missionaries with Serving in Mission in Kenya. Here they share lessons learned, which could equally apply to us in the UK.

Every day a jumbo jet leaves Kenya for the UK, full of flowers to stock our supermarkets and satisfy artistic homemakers, hopeful romantics, and harassed husbands. Conversely, eight times in the last six years a jumbo jet has carried us to Kenya to spend six or seven months at a time working through Serving In Mission, to sow seeds for developing a cell church movement amongst Kenyan Christians.

It has been immensely rewarding to spend our ’retirement’ years putting into practice what God has taught us so far, and learning more about Jesus as we partner with Him way outside of our comfort zone. So what lessons have we to share with leaders in UK?

God’s ideas are bigger than ours. We originally planned to give one year of our retirement to serving the church overseas, and were asked to help the ‘lead church’ of Glory Outreach Assembly (an indigenous Kenyan Pentecostal church with some 130+ churches across East Africa) deepen its members’ discipleship. They agreed to do this through using cell church principles. For a church based in the bustling, and sometimes insecure capital, Nairobi, transition to cell groups would not  prove easy, and we thought we’d failed.

However, after a few forays training in rural areas we saw people grow rapidly in their faith and Kingdom effectiveness. Empowered with resources and encouraged through cell membership they began to transform their churches and communities. God showed us such potential that we couldn’t wait to return and see what He would do next. He enables ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things when they partner with Him.

Seek sustainability of ministry. A friend once told us that a ministry without succession could be an indulgence. We have planned from the beginning to see something that could be sustained, developed, and owned by the Kenyan church. Our aim as leaders should be to equip Joshuas who can reach new levels and take the work to the next generation.

Dream the future, plan tomorrow, adjust for the day, evaluate the past. Stay intentional in all you do. Through faith, dream what changes God can bring and then begin to plan the steps necessary to get there. Plans will change and setbacks occur, but being flexible enables God to use us to take things forward. Plans that we ourselves put in place over 4 years ago are now beginning to bear fruit, and networks of cell churches are forming in several regions of Kenya. Over 3000 people have been made aware of cell church, over 300 cells have started, and 10 churches have been planted.

Stick with principles, hang loosely to practices. We have been teaching the same values, meeting framework and cell DNA that we use in the UK, but are seeing the Kenyan churches work out the shape of their ministry within those principles. We planned a structured, tidy way of training, only to find churches implementing cells after only having received vision. When we eventually return to help train cell leaders they very often have done things we would never have recommended, but God blesses these and teaches us to expect the unexpected!

For more information about SIM go to www.sim.co.uk

To support Colin & Fey’s work in Kenya you can donate through the above website stating Project No. 092087 Church Cell Development. For prayer letters contact cell.kenya@hotmail.co.uk

The book explores the landscape of evangelism in the 20th and 21st centuries, making the case for the adoption of new set of contextually appropriate metaphors and terms in order to communicate the truths at the heart of the gospel. In a postmodern, unchurched, multi-faith and multi-racial society, it is more important than ever to articulate the enduring message of the gospel in language that can be understood by the culture around us.

Available from our bookshop for £3.95, postage free

See a 2½ minute video of Laurence talking about this new booklet here

Because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost we are all able to participate.  The shift has moved from prophets, priests and kings (and the occasional donkey) connecting with and being used by God, to all of us being empowered, whether we carry a title or not.  This is why Paul can write about us all being members of Christ’s body and playing our part.  I think we know this on one level as knowledge that we have acquired, but we don’t experience the reality of it as personalised knowledge that changes the way we think and behave.

I am convinced that the best place to see this change from general knowledge to personalised, and therefore outworked, knowledge is in our small groups.  I am however often surprised at how long this transition can take so I want to highlight a few things that I have noticed can help this process.

Give ownership to the group at every opportunity

This means thinking about the language you use when referring to the group and keeping it inclusive eg ‘ours’ rather than ‘mine’.  When deciding where the group is heading have an open discussion and ask for ideas rather than come with a pre-formulated plan.  This encourages everyone to hear from God and share the responsibility for the group.

Adopt a non-teaching style of leadership

What I am getting at here is facilitative leadership that is about asking open questions and expecting a response.

Encourage contributions from the group

One of the key things here is to create an atmosphere where people feel safe. There are a number of ways that this can be encouraged, for example having a framework for the group (the 4 Ws are often used) gives safety for people to know how to participate, this is particularly true when each section is lead by a different member of the group.  Other things that encourage contribution are taking time to explain what is happening at any given moment, as once again this creates safety.  Affirming contributions and avoiding open judgment in the group is also essential especially where people are uncertain about how their contribution might be received.

Keep the pace through the meeting

One simple way to do this is to change the dynamic. I was in a group the other day where we stood up when it came to worship, it just changed the energy level, and the same thing happened when we came to pray for someone in the group.  Getting on your feet and gathering around someone to pray changes the pace of the group and inspires participation.

Let’s just get back to our original thoughts of all of us being empowered by the Holy Spirit and therefore having a contribution to make.  Once we are encouraged in our small groups to do this, we are far more likely to recognize God’s promptings in other areas of our lives.  It just becomes more natural for us to hear God’s voice and act on what He says wherever we are.  So rather than God just having a few select people He can speak to and use, He has all of us.  Are you listening, and how can we also encourage others to listen and act?

Alan Krieder (an early church historian) states that in the early church ‘You didn’t think yourself into a new kind of living; you lived yourself into a new kind of thinking.’

This reversal of living over thinking is rather a shock to many of us as our focus has been very much on thinking/ believing the right things rather than on behavioural change.

So what does this mean for our small groups and in particular how we might use the Bible in them?

I think we should be leading people from the theoretical understanding of a message or scripture, to practical application, usually through a time of ministry.  This will often be based out of what was preached on Sunday and is about the application of this to individuals’ lives.

There are several stages that we can consider to help us to achieve this and to act as a frame work for us to use in the group.   

Stage 1. What is God saying?

It is good to review, briefly, what was in the message and read the main passage of scripture together.

Then ask:

What seems to be the main point of this passage or what does this passage say to us today?

You need to give time for people to respond and you may want to ask the same question again in a slightly different way if a response is slow in coming.

Then ask:

What stands out to you in this passage?

Give time and encourage responses.  Keep a mental note of key points so you can summarise.

These first two questions get us connecting with the scripture itself and what the preacher brought on Sunday.  We now want to move to the application of what has come up.  It is good to summarise at this point and draw together a common truth from what has been shared.  You will probably have an idea of what this might be as you will have spent time preparing before hand, but go with what God is highlighting in the group rather than bringing your pre-formed answers.

Stage 2. Connecting with experience

To move to application, ask:

Can you illustrate this truth from an experience in your own life?

This draws people in and helps them see how a particular truth can be lived out in practice.  You may need to ask clarifying questions as people share.  If something is not clear to you it probably isn’t clear to the rest of the group.  You may have to start things moving here with an illustration from your own life, but don’t be too quick to jump in.

As stories are shared, a sense of reality is created and we begin to see how God has grown us and applied His truth to our lives.

Stage 3. Ministry time

The climax of our word time should be seeing God move among us as He ministers to us through those in the group.  Sounds great, doesn’t it!  But how do we encourage it to happen!  This is where the faith dynamic kicks in.  We need to ask a question that leads to ministry and allows people to respond to what God has been stirring in them through the last two stages. It needs to be something like:

What is God saying to you right now? Or

Who needs help?

This can be a challenge to ask but I would really encourage you to go with this final question and expect God to move through you as you ask it and lead the group to pray and minister to those who respond.

Let’s encourage each other, as we ‘live ourselves into a new kind of thinking’!

Chatting to my son one day I discovered a connection that caused me to think differently about how Jesus approached leadership.

The conversation was about Jazz. James was studying music at Lancaster University and plays jazz saxophone. His study course had a bias towards classical music and we were talking about what this meant for him as a jazz musician. I asked James what he thought was the key distinctive of jazz as a musical genre. He highlighted the way that the musicians improvised around a core theme, that they listened to one another and played in response to each other. They were not tied to a score but nonetheless had a framework that acted as a backdrop to what they were creating together. This was in contrast to the way that classical music works, where every note is written down and played according to the timing of a conductor, where parts are all pre-determined, and getting it right according to the composer’s score is what matters.

It struck me that the way the Pharisees worked was perhaps more like playing classical music; every note being written down and trying to get everyone to play according to the parts that had been written. Jesus however appears to be playing jazz! Every situation he encounters creates a different response. He seems far more interested in engaging with the various groups and individuals that he encounters, interested in what they are doing and thinking, exploring ideas with them and asking endless questions of them. The author Conrad Gempf states that “in the fifty episodes of Mark’s gospel, Jesus asked fifty two questions” (Conrad Gempf, Jesus Asked what he Wanted to Know, Zondervan 2003).

This set me thinking about which type of musical genre might describe our leadership and organisational style in church life. I think many of us have been trying to play jazz – but have been doing so in situations where the expectations of our congregations, and indeed the structures that have been created for us to work within, have been formed around a classical music mindset. Not surprisingly, tensions exist, just as they did for my son James.

One of the things that cells and small groups have encouraged is an emphasis on a different style of leadership, which has highlighted the role of facilitation. This has created an atmosphere in our groups where participation has become the norm, which has increased the sense of ownership of the group, and has encouraged a greater responsibility for personal growth and development as mutual accountability has developed.

This is sometimes at odds with our larger gatherings and can create some tension just as James experienced. It can feel as if our cells/small groups are playing jazz but our larger gatherings and central leadership structures are still working from a classical framework. I have been exploring this tension for the last few years and have experimented with different ways of leading. Although the exploration is ongoing, I am sharing some of our learning on Thursday 25th October in a Cell UK day entitled ‘Leadership as Jazz’.

So if this is an area that you would like to explore then do book in by going to www.celluk.org.uk, click on’training’ and ‘diary dates’.

Hope to see you there.

Trevor

‘Every member in ministry’ is our dream – mobilising every Christian for life, for the workplace and for church – each of us using the gifts and talents that God has given us.

We all know that if every Christian really was mobilised and the sleeping giant of the church was fully awake then we could push back the darkness that we see around us, and our effectiveness as salt and light would be greatly increased.

During the Olympics we saw just how much joy the volunteer helpers brought to this event; a smile here, a helping hand there – what a difference! So if we use our imagination and multiply that by many times then that is our dream – every Christian making a difference where they work and where they live.

But if that is the dream, what is the enemy – what stops this taking place? There are many things, but one I want to bring to your attention is a low self image.

We know this is a real issue in our society. I heard recently of a plastic surgeon who had a patient who was convinced that something was wrong with his face and it needed changing. Nothing was actually wrong, but his self image was extremely low. Not only is this a real problem in our society, it is also an issue for us in the church.

The Bible tells us clearly that every person has gifts, every person can be a channel of God’s love and blessing and yet, sadly, many people are defined by what psychologists call a ‘script’, a long-standing way of thinking about themselves, a habit pattern of the mind if you like. This script could have been created by all sorts of means – perhaps a teacher at school telling us we are stupid, maybe poverty in our background, or the comparison with a sibling – a multitude of issues that create a whisper in our head that says ‘God can’t use me, I am a failure’ and this negative script robs us of the power to be a channel.

I believe this issue must be dealt with, so for the first time Cell UK is holding a training day called Positive Self Image. Professor Paul Matts, who is an honorary professor at two universities, a leading scientist in the cosmetic field and a committed believer, will speak about how we are shaped by these things. Also I will share about the development of negative scripts and how we can break these and see a renewed mind take place when we change the way we think about ourselves.

This training day is open to all, to help us understand the issue and deal with it in our congregations, whether you are in church leadership or whether you are a simply a concerned church member, together we can seek practical answers.

The Olympics has shown us the power of volunteers; the church is the biggest volunteer movement in this country, and we need to mobilise.

We just don’t have enough leaders!

This is a common cry, and I come across it regularly when I am out and about working with churches. We need to start more groups as our current groups are too large, or we have new people who we want to be in groups but we just don’t have people who are willing to lead. How do we tackle this challenge? What can we do to raise up more leaders? Here are a few things that I have found helpful:

Model leadership that shows the values you want others to emulate

Don’t underestimate how much influence you have in shaping people’s ideas of what leadership is about. If you are not part of a small group then why should others think they need to be, let alone be prepared to lead one!

Use structures that encourage participation

It is very easy for groups to slip back to a place where the leader does everything and is the main voice that you hear in the group. Keeping the leadership role as one of facilitation is essential for two reasons: firstly we are going to keep the role of the leader light and therefore more likely for people to take on. Secondly as people participate and hear their own voices in a group they grow find their feet and are far more likely to take on a leadership role. Cell groups have classically used a 4Ws format to enable this, and there are many formats you could use but I would strongly suggest you need some sort of framework. I think of it like a garden trellis that enables the plants to grow well.

Look for potential

I am always on the lookout for potential leaders, I want to emphasise the word ‘potential’ here. As I visit the small groups in my own church, I am always on the look out for those who show a hint of leadership potential. This is much easier to spot if the groups encourage everyone to participate and even easier if the group has a 4Ws type structure where a different person leads each of the sections. It is good for the current group leaders to be talent spotting as well, so you need to brief them to be encouraging those who are showing signs of growth.

Run specific training

People need to be told and shown what to do. It sounds obvious doesn’t it, but I am amazed by the number of churches I talk to who bemoan the fact that they have a shortage of small group leaders but don’t run any regular training to create them!  Some how we just expect people to pick these things up by osmosis. Personally I like to train with a bias towards ‘having a go’ and giving constructive feedback. On this basis my church runs a training group over 8 sessions and use the first two sessions to model how it works. Then over the remaining 6 sessions we give out the different sections of the group and also the leadership role, so everyone gets to have a go at the different parts and learns on the job. This is done in an encouraging environment and includes discussion to review together how it worked and why. We use the Cell UK booklet 4 ‘Equipping future cell leaders’ which has 8 sessions of material and also includes trainer’s notes and evaluation questions.

So in closing can I ask you just to spend a few moments before God and ask him which of the above areas need more of your attention at the moment? And as we are exhorted in Hebrews 10:25, let us ‘encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.’

“Holistic small groups with a missional heartbeat”

This phrase describes for me the very essence of what we are seeking to do within the cell movement. What is very exciting for me is that around the body of Christ there  seems to be a new wave of determination and excitement for churches to be truly missional.

We know that small groups/cells with this missional heartbeat empowering people outwards is a vital part of a church being missional. The other part of it is to be involved in some of the big picture things that are causing the excitement, and our churches in the context of the big and the small can be a part of these initiatives.

Hope is launching two things this year which I think are tailor-made for us. One is The Big Lunch celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee on 3 June which I have previously written about. This is an occasion on which we can join our communities, be a part of the lunches in our streets, host the lunches…. Find out more via the link from our home page

The second initiative that Hope has been involved in is a resource that I have helped to make happen, called Hope for Harvest, a book which gives us a whole range of useful resources.

Cells/small groups help our churches to empower people in the process of work, giving meaning to what people do Monday to Friday 7am to 7pm. The cell movement from the beginning has supported the idea of every member in ministry, including this aspect, and the Hope for Harvest resource contains some fantastic ideas of how we can really encourage people.

It is packed with practical ideas around thanksgiving and generosity – from harvest suppers to food banks; acts of kindness; ideas for rural environments and for towns. It is a great resource (which I would say as I designed it and helped to make it happen!) It can be bought from our website shop

Another missional idea that I wanted to put to you is that one way for ordinary church members to share their faith is to talk about Jesus. I am encouraging people to think of perhaps four stories about Jesus in the Gospels that are meaningful to them, and encouraging them to really connect with these stories, so when people ask them about their faith they can share about Jesus and let the wonder of Jesus work in that person’s soul and life.

These stories have an impact because they have impacted the teller and because they are about Jesus. Around the world there is a growing momentum behind the realisation that putting Jesus forward is the best evangelism we can do today, and here in the UK,  as in other places, the general public are surprisingly ignorant of what Jesus said and did. This means that our ‘Jesus stories’ come across with a freshness and a power.

Might I suggest that you ‘trial run’ some of these stories in your small group, maybe as part of the Witness section. You could ask one or two people each week to share one of their favourite Jesus stories from the Gospels. Pray for one another as you look for opportunities to share these stories with your friends.

I believe that this new experiment will be extremely effective, as we encourage each other to share our faith through a Gospel story about Jesus and what he said, and I am looking forward to hearing the stories come back as we each see the wonder of this encounter.

knocks!

Really good missional opportunities on a national scale come to the church on a very infrequent basis but every now and again opportunity knocks on our door.

The Queen’s Big Jubilee Lunch on 3 June

As you may know, to mark 60 years since the Queen’s ascension to the throne there is to be a nationwide initiative called The Big Lunch where every street and neighbourhood is encouraged to have a street lunch/party together.

Hope Together has launched an initiative to encourage every church, every small group to be involved in this amazing opportunity. The Palace is very excited about churches being part of this, and the organisers very much want churches to take an active part. The Queen is writing a special Grace to be said at the various Big Lunches being held all over the country, and it would be especially wonderful if those initiated or hosted by church groups could use this Grace.

Go to our home page to find the link to resources for this Big Lunch idea and to register your Jubilee lunch. I think this is a fantastic opportunity for church members, empowered by their cells, to put on events in their streets and neighbourhoods.

What a great way for us to serve and be a part of something amazing.

Excellent new book – if only we had had it 15 years ago

As you know over the last few years I have talked a great deal about contextualisation. I believe that some of the struggles we have experienced in applying the cell model in the UK have been in working out how much of the original model can be contextualised and how much can not.

But I am not the only person who has been on this journey of contextualisation. Joel Comiskey, who is also one of the foremost champions of the cell idea, has written a new book called Myths and Truths of Cell Church which explores from an international perspective some of the misconceptions of the cell idea and some of the realities.

If only we had had this book 15 years ago it would have saved us some heartache. If you are involved in cell you will find this fantastically helpful. If you have found aspects of the original cell model that have not worked, you will also find it fantastically helpful.

I think this book is a ‘must’ for all of us who are looking for a dynamic way to have church in the big and the small. Even though much of what Joel puts into the book is drawn from worldwide examples and not from Europe, it is still in my opinion very relevant for us. It is available to order now from our shop here