FORMATS

About Small Groups. Meeting Formats. FAQ.

Small Groups or 'Cells'

The T.K. discipleship program works best in a Small Group setting, under the leadership of an experienced and anointed leader who has a true calling for this task.

The Leader

In Luke 6:12,13, Jesus goes up a mountain and prays all night before selecting the twelve apostles the next day. Pastors should also fast and pray for God to guide and control the process of selecting the Cell Leaders. It is better to have NO CELLS than to have cells with the wrong leaders.

A leader must meet 4 criteria before he can be considered for this task:

1. They must have an inner witness that God wants them to do this.
They must have a burden for the souls in their potential cell.
They must feel called by God to shepherd these souls.
They must be an anointed believer with experience walking with God. As Paul put it: 'Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil." 1 Tim. 3:6

Size and Make-up of the
Groups

From experience, we suggest that a group be no less than 7 people, and no more than 17. Jesus had 12 disciples and that seems to be a good average size for a cell group. If the group is too large, the environment is not intimate enough, and some of the more reserved people will not participate as they need to. If the group is too small, it will lack the variety of experiences and diversity of gifts which makes the group dynamic.

There should be a balance within the group of spiritually experienced people to inexperienced people, and anointed people to non-anointed people etc. This does not mean that there has to be inexperienced people in each group, but that if there is a large amount of inexperienced people in a group, there should be several anointed people with some experience to balance it out.
The people within the group should be allowed to select what group they want to be in. Groups work best if the members of the group have things in common, or are friends already. For example, young married couples and parents of young children will probably gravitate to one another.

Evangelism

The cells are a great launching pad for evangelism, starting with the friends and family members of the cell members, specifically friends and family which have been in the church before and have fallen away or need to be revived. Some people feel uncomfortable going to church, but they wouldn't mind meeting at a friends house to talk about the Bible or talk with other people about spiritual things.
Each group should make a list of family members or friends which they will be praying for and inviting to the cell meetings.
Surveys have shown that most Christians are converted through having a relationship with a friend or family member that is a Christian.

Recommendations

Here are some helpful tips on how to implement the program. These may answer some frequently asked questions and help you avoid some common pitfalls.

Try to balance all four activities. Don't over-emphasize one.

All four activities should be evenly balanced. The weekly meetings should not be a bible study with an opening prayer and a prayer at the end. Nor should it be just a prayer meeting with no word of God. Try to give equal importance to each activity.

Break up the four activities if you need to.

You could split up the four activities in any way that is comfortable for your group.

For example: You could Break Bread every other week on a Wednesday, and meet to pray, fellowship, and teach every Thursday.
Or Break Bread, fellowship, and share the Word on Thursday, and do a Prayer meeting on Friday nights. Whatever works best for your group.

The cell leader does not have to do everything.

No one in the group should feel overburdened.

The anointed members of the group can take turns bringing the teaching of the Word to the meetings.

The Breaking of Bread can be held in a different persons house each time.

But most importantly,
let the Spirit lead you!

In everything, let the Holy Spirit lead you. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will impress upon you the need to use the entire time of the meeting to teach on something from the Word of God. Sometimes he will not visit you with anything! That usually means he wants you to fellowship and pray only. Sometimes only a few people show up to the meeting. Don't be discouraged! The Holy Spirit is in control and he brought those few people for a VERY important reason!
As humans we like to control and systematize everything so we can guarantee the results, but that is foolish. Only the Holy Spirit can create results. Let Him lead you!

Formats and Methods for the Four Activities

Use these formats as a basic template for doing each of the four activities: Teaching, Fellowship, Praying together, and Breaking Bread.

Teaching:

The teaching can generally be short, like 15 minutes or so. There may be some discussion or question afterward or maybe not. The most important thing about the teaching is that it be something you have received from the Lord, for that moment, from the Word of God.
A fresh Word from God, delivered with love and anointing, can do much more than a long, systematic study on any other biblical topic.
The main preparation for this type of teaching is a consecrated life, prayer, and reading the Word for yourself. Many times God will tell you what to share, based on what you have been reading or hearing in your own personal devotionals. Studying the word of God is like stock-piling fire wood. When you are full of firewood, the spark of the Holy Spirit can set it on fire at any moment and use it to warm you or someone else. But if you have no firewood, then the Holy Spirit has nothing to ignite. Get in the flow of the Holy Spirit!

Fellowship:

For fellowship, it is best for all the members of the group to be sitting in a circle so they can all talk to and see each other.

First, you will go around the circle (The First Round) asking each person if they would like to share anything.
You can ask them things like:

How is your week going?
Do you have any testimonies?
Are you facing any struggles or a trial?
What is the Lord teaching you right now?
Did you experience anything new with the Lord?

Please do not interrupt or comment too much on what people say in the first round unless it is appropriate.
If they do not want to share, don't force them or make a big deal about it.

Second, you will go around the circle (The Second Round) asking the group members to comment, respond, or answer to anything that anyone said in the first round.

It may sound like this:

I went through the same thing and God...
I am going through that now too...
I just read a verse about that....
I love you and will be praying for you...
What you said really helped me because...

Not everybody will have something to say but God does so many things when we connect with each other this way, that it amazes me every time. One time, a girl in the group was struggling with a certain doctrinal issue, and one of the group members shared a dream he had that week, about that very issue, which answered all her questions. The best part is that she hadn't even shared her questions with the group!

Prayer

A brother once received these words from God: "A waiting service everyday."
(Or something to that effect. I am translating from Spanish.)

I believe we should pray like when we were waiting on the Holy Spirit, every time we get together. With the same fervor, faith, and expectation to receive from the Lord.
The Lord has more to give us everyday. The early church was filled with the Holy Spirit on several occasions and almost every time they gathered to pray, the Holy Spirit came down and filled them! I think of it as getting a refill, or topping-off our gas tank. We should constantly be seeking the filling of the Holy Spirit so we can overcome evil, and to help us through everyday life.

Things you can do when you pray:

Pray for the lost, the weak, or those who have fallen away.
Pray for the needs and situations mentioned in the circle.

Perform divine healing on each other.
Pray for one another.
Pair up and let the anointed members lay hands on and pray for the needs of the other group members, anointing them with oil if possible.
Many of our problems, doubts and mental battles are due in part to evil spirits. Have the anointed members rebuke any evil spirit that is attacking a member of the group. I saw a young man instantly delivered from a spirit of doubt through this type of prayer and the laying on of hands.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Eph 6:12.

Breaking Bread

When you meet to break bread, your attitude is very important. If you treat it as if you were just going to eat with friends or throw a dinner party, then that is all it will be. If you approach it with a worshipful attitude, as if you were going to do church, as if you were going to meet God around the table, then that is what it will be.

Open with a prayer when you are all at the table about to eat. The prayer should be to BLESS GOD, not just the food. Praise him and worship him for the fellowship of the brethren, for bringing his son to the earth to die, be buried, and be raised out of the earth because he loved us. Praise Him because everything we have comes from him. Praise Him because he is the one who produces fruit in our lives.
After everyone has eaten, and before you leave the table, pray and BLESS THE LORD again.

Commit to talking only about what is spiritual, or beneficial, or of edification from the moment you say hi, to the moment you say bye.

I have felt the presence of God come down and cover the whole group with his mantel of grace through this kind of worship.

Psa 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Psa 133:2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
Psa 133:3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.