Relational Ministry for the Glory of God

“Relationships are important to the overall development and well-being of any church,” writes Mark DeYmaz, our guest speaker at CrossLink’s 2016 Multi-Ethnic Conference in Yakima last spring. “Yet the development of relationships, specifically, the development of relationships that transcend ethnic and economic barriers, are essential for building a healthy multi-ethnic church.”

Continuing on, DeYmaz explains that although there are challenges to having entire cultures gathered in one church, there are also incredible benefits to overcoming those challenges – including mutual understanding, respect, commitment to each other, but primarily the Gospel is expanded through the expression of unity in and through the local church (DeYmaz, 2007). Remember that we do not need to preach that God’s love is for all people (Revelations 7:9) when our churches demonstrate God’s love by having ALL people at our table.

Before you navigate how to become more relational so that ALL people in your community will be at the table of the Lord, begin with prayer. Remember that the primary purpose of any actions we take is for the glory of God, and a good place to start is with our relationship with God. If we are actively praying and reading scripture, then Christ’s love for us will begin to compel us to love others – the way He loves them. And as we study scripture, especially the books in the Bible written to multi-ethnic churches, we will begin to get a picture of the type of unity that glorifies God (Ephesians 4:2-3 & 1 Corinthians 12:12-13).
Read the whole March 2017 update here.