All cell group gatherings include a Worship Time. People are coming into the cell gathering from work and home, from busy harried days, and it is important to create some space for people to turn their hearts Godward. We expect that God will speak and move through His people in a cell gathering, but if we haven't chosen to be attentive to that, we very likely will miss it. The Worship Time is a short time of worship where the cell members can turn their attention toward God, acknowledge His presence, and give Him access to their hearts for that meeting.
The Worship Time is meant to be:
- Relatively short, 10 - 25 minutes (except for special "worship focus" cell meetings where the whole time is spent in worship.)
- Participatory.
- God-Focused.
The Worship Time shouldn't be:
- a time of reflecting on ourselves.
- a discussion or sharing of our opinions.
- a teaching time.
If you are leading the Worship Time for your group:
- DO plan the worship segment ahead of time, making sure to have all the supplies you need.
- DON'T plan on setting up your worship once cell has already started. Make sure everything is organized and ready before the group begins so you can smoothly transition into the worship time without much distraction. If you need to do special set up, arrive early enough to get it taken care of before group begins.
- DO make sure that your worship segment is something that everyone present can participate in in some way.
- DON'T expect that worship has to be a profound experience every single time. The main point is just to give people a chance to focus their hearts on God.
- DO pray about your worship segment, inviting God to use it to draw the group members to Himself.
Worship Singing or Other Kinds of Worship?
Leading the group in worship singing is one of the best ways to create a participatory, God-focused worship segment. Singing is very participatory. The song lyrics serve as prayers, directing the group's hearts to God. It is something both children and adults can participate in and find meaningful. If a member of the group can play an instrument and lead the group in songs, that's a great opportunity. Worship singing can also be done along to CD or MP3 tracks. With a strong vocal leader, even acapella singing can be a good experience for the group. The worship ministry at Bridge City can provide you with song lyrics, song charts, and other ideas about how to incorporate singing into your call.
While this may be one regular way of leading the group in worship, it is not the only way. There are all kinds of different activities that groups can use that fit the criteria, and draw people's hearts Godward in different ways.
Here are some examples:
Extended Worship Times
Occasionally, your cell may choose to clear out other W's and do an extended time of worship. Here are some ideas about how to make that work.
Meditations
These worship ideas consist of a piece of writing (scripture, poem, prayer, etc) that people spend time reading, listening to, meditating on, and praying about. The purpose is to consider the character and the acts of God with a worshipping heart.
Communal Spoken Prayers
These worship ideas are ways for your group to speak prayers communally. When we pray communally, we come to God not as a group of individuals all praying separately to God, but as one organism, one body, one community bring a unified prayer to God that is composed by everyone.
Kinesthetic
These worship ideas are kinesthetic, engaging people in a physical way. These are great to include the kids in, but they often take extra preparation, and require certain supplies or spaces.
Write, Share, Pray
These worship activities all are made up of the this sequence: people writing something, sharing it with the group, and then praying together. These normally have a topic or excercise that everyone works on individually, writing out their thoughts or prayer. Then the group is given the opportunity to share what they were thinking/praying about. Then the group prays together.
Witness-Worship Combo Ideas
These worship ideas have an outward focus and help us to think about how God is relating to our oikos, our circle of influence. These are good things to do if you want to combine the worship and the witness time into one longer activity.
Themes & Holidays
These worship activities tie in with different holidays or themes.
Other Resource Websites
We'll be gathering other websites that have good ideas you can use in worship. Remember to keep the key principles of worship (see above) in mind when you choose.
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