Elevate your church’s impact by embracing cell groups.
4 Video Lessons
Watch, listen, and learn as Larry Stockstill shows you how to elevate your church’s impact by embracing cell groups.
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Cell Groups
Brad Andrews sits down with Dr. Berin Gilfillan to discuss local church small groups.
Course Overview
This course delves into the transformative power of cell groups within the context of the Church. Participants will explore the New Testament principle of meeting publicly and house to house, emphasizing the foundational role of house-to-house ministry. The course unfolds through sessions on evangelizing the lost, raising leaders, and concluding with a focus on cultivating ‘sons’ in the house of God.
Course Description:
Discover the biblical foundations and practical applications of cell group ministry, with a focus on its impact on pastoring, evangelizing, and raising leaders within the Church. Delve into the Old Testament’s cell group principle, examining the delegation of responsibilities using Moses as an example. Learn from real-world success stories, such as the Bethany World Prayer Center, showcasing the benefits of the cell group model in relieving pastoral burdens and enhancing ministry.
What You’ll Learn
- Understand the New Testament principle of house-to-house ministry.
- Explore the Old Testament’s cell group principle and delegation of responsibilities.
- Analyze the practical benefits of cell groups through case studies.
- Embrace a structural shift to the cell group model for transformative ministry.
- Discover the power of relationships in evangelism and its biblical foundation.
- Recognize the urgency of evangelism and its role in cell group vitality.
- Grasp the four elements crucial for successful evangelizing cell groups.
- Uncover the process of identifying and nurturing leaders within cell groups.
- Embody the concept of generations of leadership based on individual faithfulness.
- Learn the importance of mentoring and its role in continuous church growth.
Who Should Take This Course:
This course is designed for pastors, church leaders, and individuals passionate about effective ministry. It is especially beneficial for those seeking a transformative approach to pastoring, evangelizing, and raising leaders within the Church. Prospective students should be open to a structural shift towards the cell group model and eager to explore its impact on building strong, vibrant Christian communities.
Sessions
1. Purposes of Cell Groups
Explore the New Testament principle of meeting both publicly and house to house, emphasizing the house-to-house ministry as the root supporting the public ministry. Examine the Old Testament’s cell group principle using Moses as an example, illustrating the delegation of responsibilities. The Bethany World Prayer Center’s case demonstrates the practical benefits of cell groups, relieving pastoral burdens and enhancing ministry. Showcase global success stories while urging a structural shift to the cell group model. Caution against overburdening with programs and encourage prospective students to adopt this transformative approach, emphasizing its impact on pastoring, evangelizing, and raising leaders within the Church.
2. Evangelizing the Lost
Explore how cell groups fulfill the second purpose of the Church: evangelizing the lost. Emphasize the power of relationships in salvation, citing biblical examples. Discuss the importance of having a vision for evangelism and share success stories from El Salvador. Illustrate the imperative nature of evangelism for cell group vitality, drawing inspiration from Proverbs 30:25-28. Emphasize the four elements crucial for successful evangelizing cell groups: purpose, partnership, prayer, and penetration. Conclude by challenging students to internalize five principles, highlighting the urgency of winning souls. Present global statistics on the lost, stressing the responsibility of cell groups in preparing for an imminent harvest.
3. Raising Up Leaders
In this session, participants delve into the Church’s third purpose—raising leaders, addressing the critical need for effective leadership. The unique structure of cell groups becomes the focal point for identifying and nurturing leaders. Starting with individual faithfulness within a cell, participants progress based on their gifts and anointing, embodying the concept of generations of leadership from 2 Timothy 2:1-2. The session emphasizes a four-stage process to find leaders, rooted in Mark 16:15, encompassing preaching, assimilation, preparation, and ultimately, leadership. The importance of mentoring, underscored by biblical examples, underscores the session’s commitment to developing leaders and ensuring a continuous cycle of growth within the Church.
4. Great Leaders in the Church
In this concluding session on cell groups, we explore the essence of leadership, focusing on cultivating ‘sons’ in the house of God (Philippians 2:19-23). True leaders invest their lives in the church, contrasting with mere hirelings seeking payment. The lesson outlines seven dangers within a cell, emphasizing the importance of leader training. It highlights twelve distinctions between sons and hirelings, illustrating how sons build the church with a familial approach. Sons honor headship, defend the father, and prioritize the welfare of people, while hirelings focus on appearance and personal gains. The session concludes with the crucial role of Jesus as the first Son, emphasizing the necessity of sonship in church leadership (Hebrews 3:6).
Trimester 3
Details
Level
Beginner
No. of Sessions
5 Sessions
Running Time
1 hr 52 min
Recorded
May 5, 1998
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About the Instructor
Larry Stockstill
Larry Stockstill is the former pastor of Bethany Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He carried forward the legacy of his father, Roy Stockstill, who founded the church in 1963. Larry assumed the role of pastor in 1983, leading the congregation for nearly three decades. His son, Jonathan, took over as the pastor in 2011, marking fifty years of ministry for Bethany Church. Larry is a teachiing pastor under his son at Bethany Church.
A seasoned preacher, Pastor Larry began his journey at the age of 16 and spent two years as a missionary in West Africa after college. Upon his return, he served as an associate pastor at his father’s church for five years before taking on the role of Lead Pastor in 1983.
During his tenure, Pastor Larry emphasized missions, contributing over $63 million to both local and foreign missions over 28 years. In 1993, he implemented a successful small group structure, later outlined in his book The Cell Church, which became a global handbook for cell church ministry.
In the year 2000, the impact of small group ministry became evident as 28 associate pastors, mentored under Pastor Larry, established their own churches. Three of these churches now boast attendance of 85,000 weekly, with one ranking as the second-largest church in America.
In 2001, Pastor Larry initiated the “Surge Project,” a church planting model emphasizing mentoring and multiplication. By 2015, this project resulted in the planting of over 22,000 small, rural churches across twelve world zones. His book, The Remnant, addresses leadership challenges and has been distributed to pastors worldwide in six languages, with over 120,000 free copies distributed.
Continuing his commitment to mentorship, Pastor Larry released his latest book, Model Man, extending principles for pastors and small group leaders to guide men in living lives of integrity to legacy.
In January 2020, following his fiftieth ministry anniversary in 2019, Pastor Larry launched “Pastors University,” a project offering his top “50 lessons from 50 years” to empower and equip the next generation of pastors.
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