003 – What Is a Cell Church?

(Updated Show Notes - May 2025)

Episode 003 – What Is a Cell Church?

Originally recorded: July 11, 2006

This episode was one of the most passionate teachings I ever recorded during the early years of this podcast. Back then, I was deeply immersed in the world of “cell group ministry”—small, relational communities within the church focused on transformation through life together.

In this episode, I break down what a cell group is, how it differs from traditional models of church, and why I believed (at the time) that this was the most powerful expression of the early New Testament church.

You’ll hear me talk about:

  • My own journey from passive churchgoer to cell leader
  • What makes a cell group different from Sunday school or small groups
  • The vision of multiplication and shared life—not just meetings
  • Powerful scriptures that inspired the model
  • Real stories of how people showed up for each other outside the weekly gathering
  • My struggle with traditional church models and why I left one church entirely
  • And a vulnerable prayer at the end where I confess my own inconsistencies and longing to be real

✨ What I Believed Then

At the time of this recording, I believed the future of the church depended on rediscovering the model of the early Christian community—where people met in homes, shared life, and lived out their faith in smaller, more personal groups.

I believed the cell group model was the most biblically faithful, scalable, and spiritually transformative approach to Christian community.

I believed transformation happened best through accountability, vulnerability, and multiplication of small gatherings. I also believed that the institutional church, as it stood, had drifted from this model and needed reform.

🌱 What I Believe Now

I still believe that transformation is relational. But I no longer believe that it requires a structure to be holy.

Today, I don’t place my trust in models—I place it in presence.

I now understand that what I was reaching for back then wasn’t a better system—it was a truer expression of love, intimacy, and embodiment.

I’ve come to see that what I longed to build through cell groups, I now create through sacred conversations, spiritual coaching, and authentic relationships not bound by institutional frameworks.

Church is not a place. It's not a group size.

It's not even a gathering.

It’s a frequency of being with others in truth and love.

And that’s what I live and breathe now.

🔥 Why I’m Leaving This Episode in the Feed

Because this episode was honest.

Because I meant every word.

And because it holds a seed that would eventually blossom into something far beyond a church model.

This was one of the earliest moments where I tried to articulate what it felt like to crave something more than Sunday services and program-based faith. I wanted people to know each other. To see each other. To hold each other. And while the form has changed, the heart of that desire has only deepened.

I leave this here not as a blueprint to follow—but as a breadcrumb of where I was… on the path to where I now stand.

And maybe, if you’ve been where I was,

it will meet you exactly where you are.

Cliff

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