Friday, June 27, 2003
Something is Alive!
We've been experimenting with a more organic way of gathering as church in our cell groups. I get a little confused in what to call these things. Housechurches. Cell Groups. Journey Groups. Whatever we end up calling these things, it's exciting! We follow a simple pattern: We pray together. Eat together. Worship together. Share together. And learn together. God has been showing up!!! It's been different everytime. Unpredictable. Exciting.
Last night, my men's group met in our place. I made chili with the fiinancial aid of Clarence and Alex. A couple of the other guys brought more stuff to eat. Bread. Drinks. We prayed first before eating. Ogie prayed for the city of Muntinlupa since he works so closely with the Mayor's Office and as a consultant to the youth sector of the city. Clarence prayed for the church both local and in the city. Micah prayed for our church, NuComm, that a fresh revelation of God would break through. Icko closed the prayer time. Then we ate. Boy, they really enjoyed my chili. Next time though, I want to make it really spicy!!! It was too mild for me. We talked while we ate. Just hanging out and enjoying the company. After a while, we gathered around for worship. Man, God just showed up! We only sang around 4 songs but we lingered in His presence for quite a while. Clarence couldn't stop laughing even when he tried. Misha was going wild. They kinda had their own party going. Of course, it was contagious for the rest of us. I was surprised that Mark really opened up in worship. Never saw him raise his hands before last night. He began crying out how much he loved God. Whew! That was a shocker considering it's only his 3rd time with us. After the worship time, some of the guys began to share where they were at in the spiritual lives. It started with me just asking Clarence what happened to him during the worship. Then Mark shared. Then Micah. It was really great. We closed with me sharing a short teaching from a couple verses. Matthew 18:20 and Hebrews 10:24-25. We're learning how to be the church. It's been awesome!
I can't imagine a city remaining the same if these kinds of gatherings proliferated all over the place. The spiritual climate would really be changed.
I'm planning to do the same things with the Quezon City group. Met with the QC core group last Wednesday. Had to tell them that I felt they were so focused on producing a service they let the cells slide. I need to expose the false foundations we've built on in QC and lay down apostolic and prophetic foundations again.
Last night, my men's group met in our place. I made chili with the fiinancial aid of Clarence and Alex. A couple of the other guys brought more stuff to eat. Bread. Drinks. We prayed first before eating. Ogie prayed for the city of Muntinlupa since he works so closely with the Mayor's Office and as a consultant to the youth sector of the city. Clarence prayed for the church both local and in the city. Micah prayed for our church, NuComm, that a fresh revelation of God would break through. Icko closed the prayer time. Then we ate. Boy, they really enjoyed my chili. Next time though, I want to make it really spicy!!! It was too mild for me. We talked while we ate. Just hanging out and enjoying the company. After a while, we gathered around for worship. Man, God just showed up! We only sang around 4 songs but we lingered in His presence for quite a while. Clarence couldn't stop laughing even when he tried. Misha was going wild. They kinda had their own party going. Of course, it was contagious for the rest of us. I was surprised that Mark really opened up in worship. Never saw him raise his hands before last night. He began crying out how much he loved God. Whew! That was a shocker considering it's only his 3rd time with us. After the worship time, some of the guys began to share where they were at in the spiritual lives. It started with me just asking Clarence what happened to him during the worship. Then Mark shared. Then Micah. It was really great. We closed with me sharing a short teaching from a couple verses. Matthew 18:20 and Hebrews 10:24-25. We're learning how to be the church. It's been awesome!
I can't imagine a city remaining the same if these kinds of gatherings proliferated all over the place. The spiritual climate would really be changed.
I'm planning to do the same things with the Quezon City group. Met with the QC core group last Wednesday. Had to tell them that I felt they were so focused on producing a service they let the cells slide. I need to expose the false foundations we've built on in QC and lay down apostolic and prophetic foundations again.
