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
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Size and Make-up of the
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Evangelism
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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.
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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,
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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:
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:
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:
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Breaking Bread
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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.
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. |