Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty— and I will meditate on your wonderful works.”
– PSALM 145:3-5

For people who have little familiarity with church parlance, the word “elder” is a little strange. Even stranger is an elder’s job description: “keepers of the vision.” So, when the so-called “keepers of the vision” go away on a retreat together, it conjures up images of a Tolkien-esque cave gathering of bearded kindly wizards holed up in a torch-lit cave. Maybe that is what they do. But, not likely. (I’ve met them. No beards that qualify as wizard-length. They do seem kindly. Though, none of them seem like they’d be comfortable in a cave.)

Each year, the elders go away together to get a direction for where God is leading Mariners Church. In many respects, the greatest gift an elder can give to the church is an ability to listen — to patiently and faithfully hear God’s voice. One of the key components of their retreat is to identify the church verse for the year. Last year, the elders identified Jeremiah 17:7-8, which reads: “…Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream…”

The church verse is always best understood in the rear-view mirror. In other words, it’s difficult to predict all of the implications for what the passage means in an anticipatory posture. Rather, looking back over the last year, God’s story in and through that verse becomes much clearer.

We can point to moments where God’s provision seemed unlikely. We have seen people’s lives turned around in the meaningful community of Rooted and life groups. Each week, new people are finding a home in Jesus that they never thought possible. Old arid voices, drought laden and life-stealing, are being washed away in fresh hope and outbursts of joy. Those in the desert are discovering they are less alone than they thought and their lives are producing unlikely and even impossible fruit.

So, the elders have come back. They have heard God speak. They have given us a church verse (Psalm 145:3-5). I can’t wait to see the story God writes in 2015. I wonder what “mighty acts” and “wonderful works” we’ll look back upon.

See you Sunday,

Jeff