Success is a very positive word in today's world. Everyone is seeking success. But
what does it really mean for a believer? What is success in the eyes of Jesus? As
far as Jesus is concerned, there is only one criterion by which we may judge success. All that He has told us to do can be
summarized by His final words to the disciples:
"Go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to do everything I have commanded you" (See Matthew 28:18-20).
Your life will be judged successful only in so far as you have fulfilled this commission
of Jesus. It means making and maturing disciples into the character and image of Jesus. The G12 vision is a practical means
by which we can all obey the call of our Master and be a success.
Success must mean that your vision, goals and purpose in life are fulfilled. But
personal fulfillment depends on you fulfilling the call of God on your life - making, maturing and mobilizing disciples of
Jesus Christ. Success means fulfilling the Creation Mandate - "Fill the earth and subdue it." And this comes with the blessing
of God. It is says, Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it;
have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth" (Genesis
1:28).
Success also means stepping into the blessing of Abraham, God says, I will bless
you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing… And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed"
(Genesis 12:2-3).
When you obey the Great Commission of Jesus to disciple the nations you step into
the blessing of Abraham and he was blessed in all things! The great commission of Jesus implies three things: making, maturing
and mobilizing disciples. And these can be further broken down into four stages. To be successful in fulfilling every part
of the Great Commission you must: Win, Consolidate, Train and Send. These four steps have been used by different ministries,
including ICM, Bogota and is now embedded in the Model of 12 Cell Vision.
WIN
New believers are added to the church through personal friendship evangelism, the
celebrations and the regular church meetings. At the end of each of the services, the leader takes the congregation through
the sinners' prayer and invites those who have made a first time commitment to come to the front. The counseling team, which
is made up of cell group leaders, joins the new believers. The new believers are then taken to a separate room and the process
of consolidation begins.
CONSOLIDATE
At this point personal details are recorded and the gospel is shared again to ensure
that the person understands what has happened to them. The person is then told that someone will call them within two days
to find out how they are. The responsibility of the cell leader is to ensure that the new believer is called within 48 hours
and receives a personal visit within a week.
The consolidation process continues through a series of one-to-one Bible studies
and through a special Encounter Weekend. This encounter retreat focuses upon giving the new believer an experience of Jesus.
The weekend covers such areas as assurance of salvation, inner healing, deliverance, being filled with the Spirit, and the
vision of the church. Once the consolidation process is completed the new believer is ready to enter the next stage of development.
After the Encounter Weekend there is a 10 week course which helps each person build the new habits of new life in Christ working
out the personal victory and deliverance received on the Encounter. This makes sure that everyone keeps on growing in the
Lord and learns how to stand firm in Christ.
DISCIPLE
The aim is to enable every new believer to become a leader of a new cell. Therefore
when each disciple has completed the consolidation process they enter the School
of Leaders. The School
of Leaders involves training one night a week for about 6 to 9 months.
During this time there is a Re-encounter Weekend which helps each person strengthen their commitment to change and prepare
them for the task of leadership. The leadership school provides every person with a basic training in Christian doctrine,
personal life, character development and how to begin to take up the call to leadership within the Body of Christ.
Every person is called to be a leader - to lead others to Christ and to lead them
deeper in the faith. According to Ephesians 4:12 every believer is called to be equipped and fully equipped to do the ministry
of Jesus Christ, which is to make, mature and to mobilize disciples for Christ. The leadership training is there to bring
out and develop this leadership potential in every believer. Every student is taken through basic cell leadership training
equipping them to open and to lead a cell. The goal is that at the end of the leadership training, every person is ready to
start their own cell.
SEND
Each person graduating from the school of leaders launches a new cell group. The
leader of the new cell continues to receive support, help and instruction from their original cell. As each of the members
of the original cell starts their cells the original cell becomes a Primary 12 group. This primary group (G12) group is therefore
a leadership cell. Multiplication occurs! The 12 grow to 144 leaders each with their own cell.
When each of the original leader's 12 have grown their 12 the next step is for these
to begin to form teams to lead Encounter weekends and for them to develop their own School
of Leaders. As the multiplication takes place more people are needed
to teach in the School of Leaders.
Therefore the School of Teachers,
shows people how to teach the material and how to see the teaching applied to people's lives. Then the leader is free to go
on and plant many more cells.
There is also a call for people who have grown their 144 disciples to go and plant
cells and churches overseas. We are particularly concerned about the 10-40 window. That is the part of the world which has
most of the world's population of unevangelised people. A cell strategy is definitely the most effective way of reaching them.
Many of these people live in remote areas of the world and are found in countries which are hostile to Christian teaching.
From all this you can see this Cell Vision is not just another programme. The Discipleship
Cell Explosion is the key to seeing thousands of people born again, discipled and sent into the harvest fields of the world.
Pray, take every opportunity to learn about and experience this strategy and start to implement it by climbing the ladder
of success.
LADDER OF SUCCESS SUMMARY
WIN
New believers are won by personal evangelism, through the cells and through the celebration
meetings.
CONSOLIDATE
The new believer is consolidated through the Pre-encounter Bible studies, the Encounter
Weekend and the Post-encounter Bible studies.
DISCIPLE
The disciple is then trained in the School
of Leaders and by being part of a cell group. During this time there
is a Re-encounter Weekend and each person is equipped to become a cell leader.
SEND
The disciple then launches a new cell group and becomes part of a G12 group. Then
the leader 12 grows their 12 totaling 144 people. When this cell structure is in place the church is divided into strategic
groups or 'Nets'.
The nets are made up of the men's cells, the women's cells, the youth cells and the
children's cells. The nets meet weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
The leader then forms teams to run their own Encounter and start their own School of Leaders.
Then they are released to continue to grow more cells or sent out into the world to plant cells and churches
Goals for Growth
Any serious vision involves setting clear-cut goals. The particular church must own their goal corporate
and work together to see them fulfilled.
Goal setting is an essential part of success. How are you ever going to hit anything if you do not
aim for it? That much is clear, but what exactly is a goal? Goals are clear-cut objectives made plain for everyone to see
and follow. The corporate goal expresses what we want to achieve together for God. Quite simply, a goal answers the questions,
`What?' and `When?' What do we want to achieve for God and by when do we want to achieve it?
The goals will be bigger than anything we can do on our own and they show that every member of the
church needs every other member to get the job done. It demonstrates the value of working together but it also reveals the
part individuals have to play in the overall plan.
An essential part of any vision is to know where that vision is taking us, how long it will take
and what we will need on the journey. That is why goals are necessary. Goals help release the energy of God's people as everyone
works together to fulfill them. God is the great goal setter. He first determines the end - what He wants to see come to pass.
Then he works out that plan in perfect harmony with his will until the goal is perfectly fulfilled. Partnering with God means
we will have goals, but they must be his goals and not our man-made goals.
The first goal must be to transition into a cell church. This takes time, particularly if the church
has a traditional approach to cells or to small groups. The whole process of transitioning to a cell church according to the
Model of 12 takes at least three years in most cases.
The next goal is to see the Primary Generation of 12 established and for the second level to be
established. This is when the primary group has established 12 other leaders each with cells. This process from the first
12 to 144 cells usually takes about three or more years.
In setting other goals for growth it is vitally important to be realistic but not to the point of
excluding the power of God. A goal must be born out of faith under the direction of the Holy Spirit. But it is realistic to
expect steady growth for the first few years of the vision and beyond that to expect explosive growth.
