Remembering What God Has Done

_{BY BRITTANY SCHICK}

10th Anniversary Celebration

“Praise the Lord! I will thank the Lord with all my heart as I meet with his godly people.” — Psalm 111:1

Ten years.

There’s something sacred about saying that out loud. A decade of Sundays. A decade of worship songs sung in different seasons. A decade of prayers prayed in joy and in desperation. A decade of people walking through the doors carrying hope, heartbreak, questions, gratitude.

Psalm 111 feels especially fitting for a moment like this:

“How amazing are the deeds of the Lord!  All who delight in him should ponder them…  He causes us to remember his wonderful works.” (Psalm 111:2–4)

I love that word: ponder.

Not rush past. Not assume. Not forget.

Ponder.

Anniversaries are invitations to ponder — to stop long enough to look back and see the fingerprints of God where we once only saw uncertainty.

Because ten years ago, none of us knew what Traverse would become. We didn’t know the stories that would unfold, the lives that would be changed, the quiet faithfulness that would carry us through hard seasons. The growth, the pruning, the rebuilding, the stretching.

But God did.

Psalm 111 reminds us that everything He does reveals His glory and majesty — even when we don’t recognize it in real time.

The sermon gave us two practical ways to remember God’s faithfulness. They’re simple. But they’re powerful.

1. THANKFULNESS

“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” — Psalm 9:1

Whole heart.

Not partial gratitude. Not selective memory. Not just thanking Him for the easy parts. Whole heart.

Thankfulness forces us to recount — to actually name what God has done. To say it out loud. To remember the prayers He answered. The doors He opened. The people He brought. The protection we didn’t even see.

Gratitude shifts our posture.

It turns anxiety into perspective.
It turns nostalgia into worship.
It turns survival into testimony.

Here’s the truth: if we don’t intentionally recount God’s faithfulness, we will unintentionally forget it.

Ten years is not just a celebration of longevity. It’s a celebration of God’s steady hand.

2. TELL OTHERS

“When your children ask… ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know…” — Joshua 4:21–22

In Joshua 4, God instructs Israel to build a memorial of stones after crossing the Jordan on dry ground. Why? So that when the next generation asks questions, they’ll hear the story.

Stones were stacked not just for memory, but for testimony. This anniversary feels like one of those stone moments.

There are stories here. Stories of healing, stories of restoration, stories of people who almost gave up — but didn’t. Stories of marriages strengthened, faith that was rebuilt, addictions broken. Friendships that were formed and baptisms celebrated.

If we don’t tell them, they fade. Our faith isn’t meant to be private nostalgia. It’s meant to be shared history.

We tell our children. We tell the new families walking through the doors. We tell the ones who are skeptical. We tell the ones who are tired.

We tell them: “Let me show you what God has done.”

Here’s what struck me most this week: Remembering isn’t just about the past. It also anchors the future.

When we rehearse God’s faithfulness, it strengthens our trust for what’s ahead. We stop asking, “Will He come through?” and start saying, “He has before. He will again.”

Psalm 111 says, “He causes us to remember his wonderful works. How gracious and merciful is our Lord!”

He causes us to remember. Because we are prone to forget.

We forget in the waiting.
We forget in the hard seasons.
We forget when growth feels slow.
We forget when the road feels uncertain.

But anniversaries call us back.

Back to gratitude.
Back to testimony.
Back to the steady, gracious, merciful character of God.

As I sat with this sermon, I found myself quietly asking:

Where have I seen God’s faithfulness this year?
Where did He show up in ways I didn’t expect?
What stones would I stack if someone asked me, “What does this mean?”

Ten years of a church is significant.

But so is one year of faithfulness.
One answered prayer.
One moment of surrender.
One small step of obedience.

God builds His story one faithful act at a time.

Here we are — ten years in — not because of perfect leadership or perfect people, but because of a gracious and merciful Lord whose righteousness never fails.

That’s worth remembering. That’s worth thanking Him for. That’s worth telling.