Several Unique Features of Celebrate Recovery ®

• This recovery ministry is based on God's Word, the Bible. 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 ministry 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 ministry 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 ministry emphasizes spiritual commitment to Jesus Christ. The third principle calls for people to make a total surrender of their lives to Christ. Complete and lasting recovery cannot happen without this step. Everybody needs Jesus. Celebrate Recovery ® is thoroughly evangelistic in nature. In fact, the first time Rick Warren of Saddleback church took his entire church through this program hundred's of people prayed to receive Christ on a single weekend. Changed lives always attract others who want to be changed.
  
  
• This recovery ministry 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.
  
  
• This recovery ministry 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" ministry under which a limitless number of issues can be dealt with. Less than one out of three who attend Celebrate Recovery ® are dealing with alcohol or drugs. This ministry is for all types of hurts, hang-ups and habits.
  
  
• Finally, this recovery ministry encourages giving back! Because Celebrate Recovery ® is biblical and church-based, it encourages people to seek our where God wants them to serve after they've found recovery in Christ. 85% of the people who've gone through CR at Saddleback Church are now active members, and an amazing 42% are now using their gifts and talents serving the Lord in some capacity in their church.