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Why Celebrate Recovery is
Important
A Message from Rick Warren
The Bible clearly states "all have sinned." It is my nature to sin, and
it is yours too. None of us is untainted. Because of sin, we've all hurt
ourselves, we've all hurt other people, and others have hurt us. This
means each of us need repentance and recovery in order to live our lives
the way God intended.
You've undoubtedly heard the expression that "time heals all wounds."
Unfortunately, it isn't true. As a pastor I frequently talk with people
who are still carrying hurts from 30 or 40 years ago. The truth is -
time often makes things worse. Wounds that are left untended fester and
spread infection throughout your entire body. Time only extends the pain
if the problem isn't dealt with.
What we need is a biblical and balanced program to help people overcome
their hurts, habits and hang-ups. Celebrate Recovery is that program.
Based on the actual words of Jesus rather than psychological theory, our
recovery program is unique, and more effective in helping people change
than anything else I've seen or heard of. Over the years I've witnessed
how the Holy Spirit has used this program to transform literally
thousands of lives at Saddleback Church and help people grow toward full
Christlike maturity.
Most people are familiar with the classic 12 step program of A.A. and
other groups. While undoubtedly many lives have been helped through the
twelve steps, I've always been uncomfortable with that program's
vagueness about the nature of God, the saving power of Jesus Christ, and
the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So I began an intense study of the
Scriptures to discover what God had to say about "recovery." To my
amazement, I found the principles of recovery, and even their logical
order, given by Christ in his most famous message, the Sermon on the
Mount.
My study resulted in a ten-week series of messages called "The Road to
Recovery." During that series, my Associate Pastor John Baker developed
the workbooks, which became the heart of our Celebrate Recovery program.
I believe that this program is unlike any recovery program you may have
seen. There are seven features that make it unique:
This recovery program is based on God's Word, the Bible. When Jesus
taught the Sermon on the Mount, he began by stating "Eight Ways to Be
Happy." Today we call them the Beatitudes. From a conventional
viewpoint, most of these statements didn't make sense. They sounded like
contradictions. But when you fully understand what Jesus is saying,
you'll realize that these eight principles are God's road to recovery,
wholeness, growth, and spiritual maturity.
This recovery program is forward-looking. Rather than wallowing in the
past, or dredging up and rehearsing painful memories over and over,
Celebrate Recovery focuses on the future. Regardless of what has already
happened, the solution is to start making wise choices now and depend on
Christ's power to help me make those changes.
This recovery program emphasizes personal responsibility. Instead of
playing the "accuse and excuse" game of victimization, this program
helps people face up to their own poor choices and deal with what they
can do something about. We cannot control all that happens to us. But we
can control how we respond to everything. That is a secret of happiness.
When we stop wasting time fixing the blame, we have more energy to fix
the problem. When you stop hiding your own faults and stop hurling
accusations at others, then the healing power of Christ can begin
working in your mind, will, and emotions.
This recovery program emphasized spiritual commitment to Jesus Christ.
The 3rd principle calls for people to make a total surrender of their
lives to Christ. Lasting recovery cannot happen without this step.
Everybody needs Jesus. Celebrate Recovery is thoroughly evangelistic in
nature. In fact, the first time I took our entire church through this
program over 500 people prayed to receiver Christ on a single weekend.
It was an amazing spiritual harvest. And during the ten week series that
I preached to kick-off this program, our attendance grew by over 1,500
people! Don't be surprised if this program becomes the most effective
outreach ministry in your church. Today, nearly 73% of the people who've
been through Celebrate Recovery have come from outside our church.
Changed lives always attract others who want to be changed.
This recovery program utilizes the biblical truth that we need each
other in order to grow spiritually and emotionally. It is built around
small group interaction and the fellowship of a caring community. There
are many therapies, growth programs, and counselors today that are built
around one-on-one interaction. But Celebrate Recovery is built on the
New Testament principle that we don't get well by ourselves. We need
each other. Fellowship and accountability are two important components
of spiritual growth. If your church is interested in starting small
groups, this is a great way to get started.
This recovery program addresses all types of habits, hurts and hang-ups.
Some recovery programs deal only with alcohol or drugs or another single
problem. But Celebrate Recovery is a "large umbrella" program under
which a limitless number of issues can be dealt with. At Saddleback
Church, only one out of three who attend Celebrate Recovery are dealing
with alcohol or drugs. We have dozens of other specialized groups too.
Finally, this recovery program produces lay ministers! Because Celebrate
Recovery is biblical and church-based, it produces a continuous stream
of people moving into ministry after they've found recovery in Christ.
Eighty-five percent of the people who've gone through the program are
now active members of Saddleback Church, and an amazing 42% are now
using their gifts and talents serving the Lord in some capacity in our
church.
In closing, let me say that the size of your church is no barrier to
beginning a Celebrate Recovery ministry. You can start it with just a
small group of people and watch it grow by word-of-mouth. Your won't be
able to keep it a secret for long!
You are going to see lives changed in dramatic ways. You are going to
see hopeless marriages restored and people set free from all kinds of
sinful habits, hang-ups, and hurts as they allow Jesus to be Lord in
every area of their lives. To God be the glory! We'll be praying for
you.
PURPOSE STATEMENT
The purpose of the Celebrate Recovery ministry is to fellowship and
celebrate God's healing power in our lives through the "8 Recovery
Principles."
This experience allows us to "be changed." By working and applying these
Biblical principles, we begin to grow spiritually. We become free from
our addictive, compulsive and dysfunctional behaviors.
This freedom creates peace, serenity, joy and most importantly, a
stronger personal relationship with God and others.
As we progress through the program we discover our personal, loving and
forgiving Higher Power - Jesus Christ, the one and only true Higher
Power.
--Pastor John Baker, Founder
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