Jesus said, “My grace is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.” (2 Cor. 12:9-10)
Come join us on our journey to recovery.
What Is Celebrate Recovery?
Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered recovery program based on the Beatitudes. It started in 1991 at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California and is currently being used in over 3500 churches nationwide and internationally.
The purposes of Celebrate Recovery are to fellowship and celebrate God’s healing power in our lives through the 12 Steps and 8 Recovery Principles. This experience allows us to “be changed”. We open the door by sharing our experiences, strengths and hopes with one another. In addition, we become willing to accept God’s grace and forgiveness in solving our life problems.
By working and applying these Biblical principles, we begin to grow spiritually. We become free from our hurts, hang-ups, and habits. This freedom creates peace, serenity, joy, and most importantly, a stronger personal relationship with God and others.
You may be thinking that recovery is just for those with alcohol or drug problems. Only about one-third of the people attending Celebrate Recovery are dealing with chemical dependencies. As Pastor Rick Warren says, “We all have sinned, we’ve all fallen short, we’ve all been hurt, and we’ve all hurt others. Everybody needs recovery.” All of life’s hurts, habits, and hang-ups are addressed through this one curriculum. A hurt, habit, or hang-up is something that hinders your walk with God. Healing is available through applying the principles of a Bible based recovery process to our lives.
Location & Times
Wednesday’s from 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Gospel Center
7111 Woodbine Ave
Sacramento, CA 95822
* child care provided
How It Works
In order to gain the full benefit of Celebrate Recovery, participants are encouraged to attend Large Group. In Large Group we hear teachings on the 8 principles and the 12 Christ-Centered Steps and personal testimonies of changed lives. Open Share groups provide recovery specific issues.
What Happens At Celebrate Recovery?
A typical Celebrate Recovery meeting includes:
- A large group meeting
- An open share small group
- Food & Fellowship
The large group meeting is designed for the participant to set aside the busyness and stress of the outside world by entering into a time of prayer, praise and worship, and teaching as a way of getting in touch with the one and only Higher Power, Jesus Christ.
The open share small group meets immediately after the large group meeting and provides a place for the participant to connect with other Celebrate Recovery attendees. This is a safe place where each person is safe to share their struggles and victories with others who share their similar hurts, hang-ups and habits.
After you’ve attended Celebrate Recovery for a while, you will join a step study. The step study small group is for those who are ready to delve deeper into their past and the choices they’ve made. It has been said that “you go to a meeting to feel better, but you work the steps to get better”. Step Studies are a safe place to work through the Jesus-centered 12 Steps in a gender specific group. It’s a place where the “why” behind addictions and behavior can finally be uncovered and freedom can be found.
What is a Step Study?
A Step Study is a personal journey through each of the 12 Steps of Celebrate Recovery in a confidential group led by a facilitator who has completed a study. The step study is where we get into the heart of the program and true healing from life’s’ hurts, hang-ups, and habits occur. Recovery is not an overnight phenomenon, but more like a journey; step study groups meet once per week and typically take 6 to 9 months to complete the study. A Step Study is a long-term commitment to the members of the group. If you join a Step Study, the expectation is that you commit to come each week until the step study is complete. As with anything, the more effort you put into Celebrate Recovery, the more benefit you will gain.
When you finish the study, you will have worked your hurts, habits, and hang-ups through each of the 12 steps.
When the group has completed the first Participant Guide, the group is closed to new people.
The Road to Recovery
Eight Recovery Principles 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.“Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor.” Matthew 5:3
Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover.“Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”. Matthew 5:4
Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control.”Happy are the meek.” Matthew 5:5
Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.“Happy are the pure in heart.” Matthew 5:8
Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects.”Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires.” Matthew 5:6
Evaluate all my relationships. Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others, except when to do so would harm them or others.“Happy are the merciful. Happy are the peacemakers.” Matthew 5:7 & 9
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.
Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words.”Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires!” Matthew 5:10
The Twelve Steps and the Biblical Comparison
Step 1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behavior. That our lives had become unmanageable. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. (Romans 7:18)
Step 2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. For it is God who is at work in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13)
Step 3. Made a decision to turn our life and our will over to the care of God. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)
Step 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. (Lamentations 3:40)
Step 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs. Therefore, confess your sins to each other, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed. (James 5:16a)
Step 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:10)
Step 7. Humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
Step 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:31)
Step 9. Made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; and then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)
Step 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12)
Step 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. (Colossians 3:16a)
Step 12. Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and practice these principles in all our affairs. Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)
Small Group Guidelines
- Keep your sharing focused on your own thoughts and feelings. Please limit your sharing to 3-5 minutes.
- There will be no cross-talk, please. Each person is free to express their feelings without interruption.
- We are here to support one another. We will not attempt to “fix” one another.
- Anonymity and confidentiality are basic requirements. What is shared in the group stays in the group! The only exception is when someone threatens to injure themselves or others.