Celebrate Recovery is a biblical and balanced 12 Step program that helps us overcome our hurts, hang-ups, and habits.  It is based on the actual words of Jesus rather than psychological theory.

Twenty five years ago, Saddleback Church launched this wonderful ministry with 43 people. It was designed as a program to help those struggling with hurts, habits and hang-ups by showing them the loving power of Jesus Christ through a recovery process.  This 12 step ministry is now in over 29,000 churches worldwide and has helped over 4 million people and is translated into 20 languages.

Fountain of Life Christian Center has always been a church that has desired to help those in our community.  We searched for a ministry that would help us to be more effective in touching the lives of hurting people.  Those of us who are in involved in CR (Celebrate Recovery) at Fountain of Life are grateful to Rick Warren, John Baker and Saddleback Church for making this ministry available. We completely desire to follow the DNA modeled by this ministry from Saddleback.

Here is some information that you may want to consider before attending.

• This recovery program is for a wide variety of issues.

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.  Issues such as anger, physical or emotional abuse, anxiety, codependency, depression, overworking, over-eating, pornography, lying, overspending, fear and a host of other issues are able to be dealt with in this program.

Unfortunately time doesn’t heal all wounds.  Many people still deal with the ramifications of things that occurred in their lives decades ago. CR allows individuals to move past these often painful occurrences in their lives by dealing with them in a biblical way.

In a very real sense, everyone needs Celebrate Recovery as we have all been hurt, and hurt others, we all need to make a spiritual inventory of our lives, and we all need to grow in our relationship to Christ.

• This recovery program recognizes Jesus Christ as the one and only Higher Power.

The bible teaches that all of us have sinned and that we all need a Savior. The third recovery principle on the Road to Recovery based on the beatitudes is a dedication of one’s life to Jesus Christ.

Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control. (Step 3)

Lasting recovery cannot happen without this step. Everybody needs Jesus.          

• This recovery program is a 12 step program based upon the Bible

While many lives have been helped through the years from the traditional twelve steps that are found in programs like A. A. and other similar programs, there has been a weakness in these programs due to a vagueness about the nature of God, the saving power of Jesus Christ, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. God has led the founders of this ministry (Rick Warren, John Baker) to completely base this program on the beatitudes spoken by Jesus.

• This recovery program offers a “safe place” for people to talk about their lives.

A key component of Celebrate Recovery is that this ministry values anonymity and strict confidentiality. Rules about how the groups operate are read and followed at every meeting. This creates a warm, trusting and open environment where people have the opportunity to share what is happening in their lives without fear of judgment.

• This recovery program emphasizes personal responsibility.

Rick Warren states on the official Celebrate Recovery’s website: “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 is built on the New Testament principles of community.

While there are many aspects of recovery that can be dealt with one on one in counseling, the New Testament teaches that we need one another.  Fellowship and accountability are two components of spiritual growth.

While other groups may have co-ed sharing, Celebrate Recovery small groups and step studies contain Men and Women’s groups.

THE ROAD TO RECOVERY BASED ON THE BEATITUDES

 Realize I’m not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable. (Step 1)
  “Happy are those who know that they are spiritually poor.”

Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him and that He has the power to help me recover. (Step 2)
“Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control. (Step 3)
 “Happy are the meek.”

Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. (Steps 4 and 5)
 “Happy are the pure in heart.”

Voluntarily submit to any and all changes God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. (Steps 6 and 7
“Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires”

Evaluate all my relationships. Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others when possible, except when to do so would harm them or others. (Steps 8 and 9)
“Happy are the merciful.” “Happy are the peacemakers”

Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will. (Steps 10 and 11)

Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and my words. (Step 12)
“Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires.”