This plan is designed to have a Nurturer guide the study and any other cell member support the study (Noted as Support). All instructions are identified for Nurturers. A separate document (cell content) is meant to be shared.
This cell plan is based on the sermon given by pastor Michelle on Sunday, September 1st, 2024.
Prepare Ahead
- Read Cell Vision Statement
- Meditate on Matthew 4:1-11.
- Nurturer/Support of each group to discuss ahead to share different sections
- There are a list of optional questions included for deeper sharing. Feel free to include any or all if appropriate and time permits. The questions are for deeper transparency, therefore, should be asked in gender specific settings.
- Have some paper and pens ready for members to journal through the Scripture reading exercise.
- Link to sharable version for members: Cell Content
Opening
Nurturer: If there are new members today joining for the first time. Ask everyone to share their name, hobby, goals for the year. Feel free to change up the question here to dive into different areas of people’s lives (work, family, hobbies, etc.)
Icebreaker question: What are you looking forward to in the fall?
Worship
Go into musical worship if someone is scheduled. Continue to ask if members of the cell are willing to in the future.
Support: Please pray for the group to begin the study.
Word
Imaginative Prayer Exercise
Nurturer: Today, for the passing portion of the plan, we are inviting the cell to listen to the passage while doing the Imaginative Prayer Exercise. This is similar to Lectio but more focused on just the reading of the passage part. The purpose is not to study the passage but to immerse yourself in the passage. The reflection questions are meant as guides and we will not be asking them to share after.
Briefly explain what imaginative prayer is and what it accomplishes, then read through the steps of imaginative prayer for today’s passage.
Note: Please feel free to summarize and/or paraphrase the below explanation, copied from Larry Warner’s Journey with Jesus: Discovering the Spiritual Exervises of Saint Ignatius.
Imaginative Prayer:
- Imaginative prayer helps us experience the story and personally hear, see and touch Jesus. In imaginative prayer, God speaks personally and powerfully. It involves using our God-given imagination to hear from and experience God and truth in a deeply forming way. It helps us move from external head knowledge of God to an internalized, deeper knowing of God.
- The greatest validation for using imagination as a tool for interacting with the Scriptures is the Bible. In the opening chapters of Genesis, the earth is formless and void, and the Spirit of God moves across its surface.
- Out of nothing but God’s own imagination, light, sky, mountains, valleys, and all of life are created. The final book of Revelation is bursting with dramatic images and descriptions of Jesus, heaven, the turmoil of the world and the birth of a new heaven and new earth.
- From the first page of Scripture to the last, our fully engaged imagination is needed to enter into and embrace this amazing story of creation and redemption, of good versus evil, of power, love, grace and hope.
- The Bible is written imaginatively because we are imaginative. Dramatic biblical imagery exists to help us enter into the living Word of God, to gaze upon the Lord, to look beyond the seen to the unseen (2 Cor 4:18) and to fully embrace the truth that in God we live, move and have our being.
Support: Read through the passage slowly, then invite the group to spend some time to meditate through the passage and journal their reflections.
Steps for Imaginative Prayer (adapted from Larry Warner’s Journey with Jesus):
- Get quiet in yourself and focus on openness to God. Find a place and a posture that will allow you to meditate. Relax your body. Slow your breathing. At the same time, be in prayer, asking God for guidance using the following prompts
- Imagine yourself as a participant in the story, an onlooker from afar as the events take place. Begin by noticing the details in the story. What do you see? Smell? Feel? Hear? Taste? Think? Watch the situation as it unfolds. Listen to what is said.
- What do you notice about Jesus before Satan comes to tempt him, during the temptation and after the temptation?
- When the temptations are over, go and speak to Jesus. Journal your interaction with Jesus. What do you say, and why? How does Jesus respond to you?
Jesus is Tested in the Wilderness
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Matthew 4:1-11
Context and Sermon
Nurturer: Go through a quick summary of the sermon and ask the cell if they have any other highlights they remember and would like to share. Ask the cell to share any journaled reflections they have on the passage after the imaginative exercise.
Sermon Highlights
- Jesus, like us, was tempted by the devil, yet he did not sin. Therefore, being tempted is not a sin.
- The devil tempts us, because we belong to Jesus and the devil is trying to draw us away from God.
- We can defeat temptation by knowing the Word of God and worshipping God alone.
- Jesus is constantly interceding for us in prayer, even now.
Discussion
Nurturer/Support: The discussion today focuses on dwelling in the Word to defeat temptation and become more Christlike.
Nurturer/Support: Ask the following questions, the goal is to facilitate conversation, not a Q&A, this section doesn’t have to have everyone share their personal thoughts but try to get everyone in the conversation. Depending on the depth of the responses from Question 1, it may take up the entire evening, there’s no need to try to go over all of the questions.
Note: Because the cells are still in their early stages the optional questions may likely not be appropriate to ask depending on group makeup, however, if you sense an opportunity to dive deeper then feel free to use the optional questions.
Reflection & Response:
- Do you have a Bible verse that you memorized and go back to often? Share the verse with the group and share how it has helped you over the years.
- Share about your Bible-reading habits. Do you feel as if you are rooted in the Word in your life, or is regular Scripture study something you struggle with?
- Reflect on Christ’s attitude of prayer, constantly dwelling in the Lord’s presence. When you think of Christ interceding and praying for you, what is he praying about for you right now?
- What should I take note of that could help me be more Christlike?
Optional Questions:
- What temptations are you currently struggling with?
- Share about your prayer life. How can you imitate Christ’s attitude towards prayer?
Witness
- New Cell Roles:
- Last Zone, we discussed the cell team and the new cell roles, ask the group to share their thoughts and ask if any of the roles interest them. Below is the recording, if they are interested, let Pastor Ted and/or Andrew know and they will follow up.
- Recording: YouTube Link
- Summary of new Cell Roles: Document Link
- More Details and Sign up forms: https://gcgcny.link/adultzone
- Last Zone, we discussed the cell team and the new cell roles, ask the group to share their thoughts and ask if any of the roles interest them. Below is the recording, if they are interested, let Pastor Ted and/or Andrew know and they will follow up.
- Outreach review (To be facilitated if there’s an outreach coordinator)
- Cell Outreach
- Ask if there’s a friend that is on any cell member’s heart to outreach to for them to join cell groups
- Ask cell to get into groups of 3 and:
- Pray for the cell member and the friend
- Share plan for other members of the cell group to go out and get to know the friend
- If the above has been done (i.e. relationships built, then can share the cell vision with individuals and invite them into the cell)
- Cell Request List: The cell request list is for people without direct connections to anyone in cell right now.
- The list of people who are interested in cell are growing!
- Share the size of the list and ask if the cell is ready to receive individuals/families in the waitlist
- If anyone is interested in becoming a nurturer to welcome more people into cell ministry! Let your nurturer know.
- Cell Outreach
- Follow up: For people who missed last cell, did anyone reach out to them to check in? Continue this exercise by following up this week with anyone who couldn’t make it this cell
- Cell Dates: Confirm future cell dates and mark it down in the document as far into the future as possible to help the planners schedule properly!
- Christmas EV: On Dec 20, 2024, we will be having our annual Christmas EV dinner evening. This year, worship ministry is heading up the annual Christmas EV dinner with dinner, and then a Worship EV night, headed up by Xiao. We are starting to gather interest in people who would like to help out with this event, and we would like to start early (August) in planning and preparing and working together to bring the vision of the Christmas EV dinner together.
- We want to offer many opportunities to serve for this evening for anyone who is interested in the roles:
- 1. Event planning team (Will meet 3-4 times to keep the organizing of the event on track and check in with how everything is going)
- 2. Worship EV planning team (Will meet once/twice a month for Aug/Sept to discuss and plan out the worship portion of the evening. Doesn’t have to be part of the actual worship team)
- 3. Worship team (Will meet during November/December at least 4 times to practice through the worship set)
- 4. Hosting Team (Greeters – Generally just greet and meet people and get to know new people and friends who come. Help seat people etc)
- 5. Hosting Team (Waiting – We’d like to have something more special and formal for everyone, so we’d like to have some people who want help wait and serve tables)
- 6. Food Team (Prepare/coordinate/work on food for the evening)