Jul 30

Everybody loves a good story. By drawing us in, stirring our imaginations, and touching our hearts, stories can teach us great lessons. The Bible is filled with fascinating stories like Noah and the ark, Moses and the Ten Commandments, and David and Bathsheba that God uses to teach us fundamental principles. Stories we seem to connect with most are unvarnished, revealing weakness as well as strength, failure as well as victory.  

The Perimeter story of becoming a church of influence has shaped our global outreach vision to reach the world for Christ through city transformation.  On a recent trip to Dublin, I was privileged to see how the Perimeter story inspired prospective partners seeking to develop their own vision for city transformation. Tom Mullis and Chip Sweney along with Gordon Moore shared the story as follows: Randy Pope planted Perimeter Church some thirty years ago with a vision to impact Atlanta for Christ. The church grew rapidly, focusing on discipleship and church planting, and by all usual measures, was greatly successful. But God’s Spirit moved in the hearts of the leaders, prompting the question, “Are we truly influencing greater Atlanta for Christ in such a way that if we were to be gone tomorrow would the city miss us?” The answer was a resounding “No.” This began an intentional movement within the church to become outward facing and develop relationships and partnerships in the community where we live, work and play. God was also moving in other churches, and together, we began to shift from working alone to collaborating with each other.  We began combining resources and applying the diversity of His gifts to more effectively impact the city’s greatest needs with practical expressions of Christ’s love. From this, Unite! was born. This strategy required a steady flow of workers with the heart of Christ.  Life-on-life missional discipleship is at the core of producing and deploying these mature and equipped workers.  

It was amazing to see how Perimeter’s story encouraged our Irish brothers and moved them to consider how we might journey together toward city transformation in Dublin and in Atlanta.  Many at Perimeter have lived this story and could add their own chapter telling how God used them. We all have a part to play in God’s bigger story.  This week, consider what your chapter might be.