I'd never been to a Celebrate Recovery meeting before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I found was grace and love. I left wondering why we aren't all participating in a similar group. It was a beautiful model of the church.
Celebrate Recovery was founded by John Baker, a member of Saddleback Church who is a recovering alcoholic. He had participated in Alcoholics Anonymous, but wanted to be able to include the power of Jesus as part of his recovery. (AA references a "higher power" but doesn't name Jesus, according to CR's website.)
I love the fact that the "DNA of CR" is all about Jesus. In fact, if you leave Jesus out, it's not Celebrate Recovery. That's the rule.
Last night, I saw people just like me. Everyone had something with which they struggled and for which they were dependent on Jesus to control. Alcohol. Drugs. Anger. Food. Sex addiction. The list of issues was long.
What I loved about CR was that they didn't celebrate their addiction. They celebrated the power of Jesus that helped them overcome it. They stressed the importance of knowing Christ, offered to pray with anyone who didn't know Him, offered baptism for anyone who wanted to follow Him for the first time.
One man shared his story of the power of Christ in his life and the miraculous restoration of his family. He was a trophy of grace, just as we all should be.
Toward the end of the meeting, they had a disc presentation service. If you wanted to admit you had a problem you needed help with, you could come forward to receive a blue disc. Two people walked to the front and took a disc. I wanted to cheer. Instead, I prayed they'd go the distance and find freedom.
As they walked back to their seats with those blue discs held tight in their hands, I wondered why we don't give out discs in our church services. "Do you want a hurt healed? Come forward and get a reminder to carry with you that Jesus can and will heal you." "Do you want to let go of something? Come get a reminder to carry..."
There were discs for one month of recovery, two, on up to six months. Then the discs became less frequent. Nine months. A year. Two years...ten years.
There was only one ten-year disc given last night, and it was to my deeply-healed friend. As she went forward for her disc, I realized something important. The longer people stay in Celebrate Recovery (and actually participate), the more they will let God have of their hearts. The more they surrender to God, the more they will love Him.
My friend loves much because she knows she's been forgiven much. We've all been forgiven much. The reason we don't love as much as my friend is because we don't recognize how much forgiveness we need, how much forgiveness we've received.
Ponder that a moment.
Scripture tells us that all of us have sinned. All of us have fallen short. Not one of us is worthy of redemption. And yet...Jesus took all the sin of all the people who've ever lived and ever will live and He paid for it.
I can't even comprehend it, but I believe it's true.
Why? Because I see the evidence in the lives of people who've been set free from the bonds of addiction and those who've been set free from the power of sin. People just like me, who've become trophies of grace because of the great change that's been wrought in their lives.
We may not all participate in a Celebrate Recovery small group, but we can all participate in the saving power of Jesus, the bondage-breaking, chain-loosing, freedom-giving power of Christ.
How? It's pretty simple, really. Trust. Surrender. Obey.
If we need freedom in any area, we can have it, but only if we're willing to surrender our will to His, our desires to His, our actions to Him. Freedom can be ours, if we'll have it. What are we waiting for? Come to Jesus.
"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little." Luke 7:47 niv
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Please like and share to extend our digital reach. In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: Caregiver Chronicles: How the High Maintenance Missionary Does a STMT at Home
If you're not familiar with why I'm sometimes called "The High Maintenance Missionary," it's probably not what you think. Click on the link to find out more.
If you feel led to partner with this ministry (US, Middle East, the digital world), here's the link to give your tax-deductible donations: Global Outreach Acct 4841
Or you can mail your check or money order to: Global Outreach/ PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802. Be sure to put Account 4841 in the "for" line.
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