Harvest Church | Small Groups :::


	*Why Attend A Small Group?* The Cell Church The traditional structure of evangelizing, assimilating and discipling leaders will never be fast enough or efficient enough to facilitate the revival that God has promised. The cell model is a simpler tool which in the hand of the Lord can strengthen churches and prepare members for the rush of new believers that will be coming. It is the task of each Christian to use his or her gifts to serve non-Christians with whom one has a personal relationship, to see to it that they hear the gospel, and to encourage contact with the local church. The key to church growth is for the local congregation to focus its evangelistic efforts toward the questions and needs of non-Christians. As new believers join cell groups, the multiplication of the cell groups is the natural progression of the Kingdom of God and has been identified as the "One Most Important" church growth principle around the world. (Christian Schwarz from Natural Church Development) The Small Group* The Small Group is a place where every member is encouraged to operate in the spiritual gifts which they have received from the Lord. This ministry is easy for everyone to participate in and provides relationship, support, accountability, encouragement and involvement for a major percentage of the church. Small groups help everyone to become a minister: He or she is created to minister (Ephesians 2:10) He or she is saved to minister (2 Timothy 1:9) He or she is called to minister (1 Peter 2:9) He or she is gifted to minister (1 Peter 4:10) He or she is authorized to minister (Matthew 28:18) He or she is prepared to minister (Ephesians 4:11) He or she is needed to minister (1 Corinthians 12:27) He or she is rewarded for ministering (1 Corinthians 3:23-24) Harvest Small Groups go beyond just discussing Bible passages to applying the Bible's message to daily life. In our groups members are able to bring up those issues and questions that are immediate personal concerns. Small groups are the natural place for Christians to learn to serve others; both inside and outside the group with our spiritual gifts. Weekly Meetings Weekly meetings consist of food & fellowship, a time for 'breaking the ice' for newcomers, times for prayer, planning, discussion, and worship & ministry Weekly meetings are designed to last about 1.5 hours. What's Next? To determine which Small Group is best for you, consider your location and availability. We have small groups meeting in homes in Champaign, Urbana, Rantoul, St. Joseph and Farmer City. We also have several workplace small groups that meet over the lunch hour. We have new small groups multiplying or starting from scratch all the time. Call Harvest Church at 217-328-7711 for more specific information on locations of individual small group meetings and directions on how to get to the small group meeting you're interested in attending. Or, join us at a Sunday service and check the Small Groups bulletin board in the Harvest Church lobby. There you will find more specifics on each individual Small Group, its leaders, location and meeting date and time. In fact, you will have the opportunity to meet many of the Small Group leaders and decide with which group you will feel most comfortable.


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