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Listen to Frank Dang’s Sermon “Together We Evangelize”

The following is a message that Frank Dang preached at Northwood church.  It combines all the elements from sharing, to engagement, to doing in the context of a cell, etc.  You must listen to the sermon – he’s incredible. 

The Kingdom work involves two equally important tasks: the task of performing the Good Deeds, and the task of proclaiming the Good News.  Some scholars argue that Evangelism is the core and the heart of the Church’s mission (David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission”, page 412).  This makes sense because how can we make “disciples of all nations” if, first, we don’t hand them the Good News. 

In this series “God Among Us”, we are not talking about an individual church member doing evangelism alone.  We are encouraging and emphasizing the whole Body of Christ performing the task of Evangelism Together!  Over fifty (50) times in the New Testament, we, as the body of Christ, are commanded to do different tasks to “one another” and “with each other” (Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Life, chapter 18).  Apostle Paul said that “each of you is part of the Body of Christ and you were chosen to live together in peace.” (Col. 3:15).  The early church illustrates this “life together” beautifully as described in Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the Apostles- the Life Together, the common meal – and the prayers.”  Thus, together we evangelize.

Before we go further, let us examine the word “Evangelism” to learn its meaning and its definition.  “Evangelism” has its root in the Greek language and it is a combination of two words: “eu” (meaning “Good”, and “angellion” (meaning “message”).  Evangelism means “Good Message”.  Over 50 times, this word is used in the Bible.  The first person who used this word, Evangelism, is the Roman Emperor who wanted to declare to the people of Rome that they have a Great Victory (Roy Fish, Contemporary Evangelism Notes).  So, in the context of Biblical setting, Evangelism can be defined as:
Evangelism is the compassionate sharing of the Good News of Jesus and the Power of the Holy Spirit with all people for the purpose of guiding them to Christ as Lord and Savior that they, in turn, might share Him with others. (Roy Fish’s Definition of Evangelism).

Isn’t that simple enough? Can we be entrusted with the task of Evangelism?  Where/how do we begin?  Let’s look at the Concentric Circle in NorthWood Church’s Notes.  We start with Prayer- Seeking guidance from the Head on behalf of our own families. 

Point # 1 Together We Pray.
“Don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6-7).

Point #2 Together We Minister. 
In Ephesians 2:10, Paul says: “for we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  Together we minister by seeking out the lost and inviting them to visit our TLC.  Our TLC (T-Life-Cell) meets every other Sunday, and on every Saturday, the men meet at 7:00 AM to wrestle with the Word of God together.  As we study the Word, we encourage and challenge each other to practice and apply the Living Word of God in our working environments.  Some of our men are new believers and they say, “I wish I knew more about the Bible so I could minister to my coworkers.”  The answer is: No one knows it all.  We encourage each other to simply share what they have tasted and minister to others what they have experienced among our fellowship”. Together we invite the lost to visit our TLC.  We have a brother in our TLC named “Jesus”- how wonderful and interesting!  We have Jesus with us 24/7.

Point # 3 Together We Multiply. 
The Lord Jesus Christ said in John 15:16 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit, fruit that will last and so that whatever you ask in my name, the Father will give you.”  So, together, we bear much more fruit.  As I remember the first month of our TLC together, it was a humble experience and significant lessons that we all could learn from.  As you know, my wife and I had been equipped and trained by Pastor Bob Roberts, Pastor Eddy Leo, and Pastor Omar Reyes for TLC. We were encouraged to go and multiply.  Our TLC, during the first month, was a bit silent/quiet especially through the time when we practiced “prophesying over one another”/interacting with God and with one another.  We wondered if “God was among us?”  My wife and I felt a bit discouraged and we cried to the Father asking Him to give us faith and guidance.  We asked the Father why the TLC members did not speak to the Head and to one another.  We acknowledged these young families were from different backgrounds & nations.  They did not know each other very well and the concept of TLC (Up-In-Out) was very new to them. One night while seeking the Father’s guidance in prayer, I felt the Father handed Thao and I a baby.  That day, I told Thao that we were going to have a “fourth” child soon!  Thao was confused and asked me to tell the Father, “No Thanks.” What child is this? As we prayed again, we felt that one of the main reasons the TLC members had not interacted with the Head more was because as a baby, we need to be nurtured and fed properly and especially with love and care so that in time, the baby will grow and be able to communicate.  It’s like what the Apostle Paul said that as a new branch/un-natural branch has just been grafted to the tree.  It takes time for the branch to bear fruit.  The most important thing is to water and to provide nutrition for it.  Seven (7) months later, Rick and Rubi came to Thao and I and said something that truly blessed and encouraged our hearts.  Both Rick and Rubi were ready to go and multiply. They were called to lead a new cell group among their friends and live life together.  Our TLC gathered Rick and Rubi last month and prayed over them and we bought two journals for each of them to begin their new journey.  Last Friday, we went to Rick and Rubi’s TLC and ministered among them and we were blessed throughout the fellowship. 

Point #4 Together We Commission.  Matthew 28:19 “Go and make disciples of all nations…”
It has been a privilege to live life with 7 families, each represents a nation.  We are aware with what is going in the world from Mexico to Japan.  When the first major earthquake broke out in Japan, we learned that some of Lou’s relatives were stuck in the train.  We poured our prayers on Lou.  Lou found a song in Japanese “Our God Reigns” in Japanese and sent to Brent and Daniel and our NorthWood Church sang/listened to that song not long ago.  The Saturday right after the earthquake happened, the men in our TLC gathered and prayed.  During the prayers, someone in the circle softly broke into tears.  Men don’t cry especially in the early morning.  Men either sleep or snore in the early morning but weeping it is not normal!  So, we acknowledge that it is not just someone’s tears.  It’s God’s tears for the nations.  We gathered together and started praying for the nations of Libya, Mexico, India, Japan, and others.  We prayed in our own tongues.  It was like a beautiful song lifted up to the Lord.  Lou was touched that he would be willing and ready to go to Japan and minister among his own people. 

Brothers and Sisters of NorthWood, we are living in the 21st century.  The nations are in our backyard.  You remember that not long ago, our senior Pastor challenged us to “tackle the city of Keller together”.  There was one voice, sister Kris Fegley- a teacher, representing NW congregation responded by saying “ in my school, Parkview Elementary, we have many nations among us and we are in need of human resources.  Come and tackle the city together.”  Pastor Matt Robertson and I have worked closely with sister Kris Fegley and the principal of the school to set the stage for our service over there.  During a recent meeting among some NW staff concerning potential ministry in Parkview, brother Jim Fletcher said something that was very profound “how about each TLC group adopting a classroom.”  Next week at NW, we have Revive Carnival where we could together reach out and minister to hundreds of families.  In August 26-29, our church will host a significant world class Circus.  Don’t miss this great event as we will together invite our friends and families in the concentric circles to participate in this joyful event at NW.  Remember, Together We Evangelize! Here is the objective of the sermon that I sincerely want for each of us to bring home.  As I prepared for this sermon, I sensed the Head telling me to say to all of us that: To know about God, we could read the Bible, and other theology books.  But, to experience God, we must abide in His Body.”  This applies to all.  Each of us should be connected to a TLC.  I encourage all of you to register today, and you will love the Body of Christ tomorrow.  Northwood, we exist to Glorify God and that, God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him through His Body.  May the Grace of our Father and the Perfect Peace through Jesus Christ, and the Fellowship   & the anointing of the Holy Spirit be with us all as we do the work of an evangelist together.