"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11
A more mature leader, usually the Cell Leader or an Apprentice, should carefully direct the Ministry Time.
The purpose of the Ministry Time is to allow those present to share their own needs and minister Christ's help to one another.
The Bible Application Study seeks to help us apply God's word to our own lives. The ministry/prayer time seeks to deal with issues and needs revealed by the study. This is also the time when we share our own needs and concerns, and pray for each other. The goal is to go beyond simply bringing needs to God in prayer, but also to minister to those needs. Each person should seek to be a giver, as well as a receiver, a channel of God's love and power to meet the needs that come to light among our spiritual brothers and sisters. ‘Body Ministry' time is the ideal time for the proper use of spiritual gifts (prophecy, word of knowledge or wisdom, healing etc.), which the Holy Spirit gives for building up God's people. (See 1 Corinthians 12:7; 14:12, and Spiritual Gifts below).
It is important to give enough time for ministry. Give the Holy Spirit time and space to minister to people's needs – our aim is to receive the help God longs to give us! Encourage every member to take part. One way to do this is to have each person pray in turn for the person on their right. Prayer requests can be shared in pairs before prayer commences. Other ways of conducting the ministry time can include focusing on the special needs of one or two members; at other times pray in pairs or three's.
An example: A member may share they find it difficult to read the Bible and don't know how to approach it. Various cell members might share brief testimony, advice, give encouragement, and pray for the person concerned. A specific word from the Lord may be given. Thus the cell member is built up.
A regular time of real body ministry will both strengthen relationships within the group and provide a strong foundation for spiritual growth and outreach! (See John 13:34-35)
Ministry can involve organising practical help (see 1 John 3:16-18). There is no limit to the creative ways that members of a cell group could help one another, and visitors too. Some examples are: babysitting, lifts, gardening, filling in forms, anything! It could involve providing some financial help – in this case any gifts should be channelled through the church, not given directly. Let us be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
A major focus of the ‘body ministry' time should be the use of spiritual gifts. These should be exercised by all members for the building up of the body. While some regard spiritual gifts as controversial, the Apostle Paul insisted that all spiritual gifts are simply an indication of the presence of Christ in the midst of His body (see Rom.8:9; 1 Cor.12:3-7).
There is a grave danger present when a cell is unplugged from the work of the Holy Spirit and the use of spiritual gifts. It has no alternative except to become a religious social club, which soon ossifies and diverts its activity to other tasks… (Where do we go from here?, p.182)
Ralph Neighbour describes the using of spiritual gifts like an electric current that must flow from a source to a need. If the believer is attached to both Christ, the source, and another person with a need, and seeking to be used by the Lord, the gifts will be manifested!
All valid manifestations of the Spirit must be relevant to the needs of those present. The modelling of the proper use of gifts can protect new believers from absurd excesses.
Whether a convert's age is 15 or 75, spiritual gifts are given for the building up of the rest of the body of Christ and for ministering to a broken world. They must be taken from a Bible study topic to being literally applied in the cells. (Where do we go from here?, p.165)
In the centre of Paul's teaching on gifts in 1 Corinthians12-14 he breaks off to discuss the essential motive: love. Without love the gifts mean nothing. But used with love as the motive they represent the literal fulfilment of Bible teaching: ‘Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts…' (1 Corinthians14:1); ‘Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.' (Ephesians 4:15-16).
Every one of us arrives in the kingdom ‘crippled inside'. Living apart from God for years creates inner brokenness which must be mended. In addition, simply living in a fallen world of fallen men continues to damage us as we seek to live under His Lordship. The cell group exists as a community where the healing power of God is to be manifested. (Where do we go from here?, p.171)
Knowing the divine pattern provides access to Christ in a special way. He flows through other body members to meet my needs, and He flows through me to build up other body members. When one has experienced it, there's no desire to turn back! (Where do we go from here?, p.180)
E8.7 Leading the Ministry Time - Version 3 – Mar 11