Celebrate recovery

Celebrate Recovery employs a biblically based approach to support long-lasting recovery, focusing on healing hurts, guiding individuals toward new, healthy truths, and developing life-giving habits. They believe no one should face their pain alone. The program offers a grace-filled community where individuals can courageously enter a safe and welcoming space to openly address their pain and any negative perceptions they may have about themselves, God, and others. Through this process, participants recognize that some of their coping mechanisms that were developed to escape pain may have caused harm to themselves and those close to them. 

www.celebraterecovery.com  

All substances and behaviors   

Theistic (Christian)

John and Cheryl Baker founded Celebrate Recovery in 1991 at Saddleback Church, driven by their personal experiences and calling. Together, they developed a program that has brought healing to countless individuals and families through Jesus Christ. For 30 years, they led Celebrate Recovery, guiding its growth and impact. In February 2021, John passed away, but Celebrate Recovery continues under the leadership of their son and daughter-in-law, Johnny and Jeni Baker. The ministry was born from John Baker’s vision — which was shared with senior pastor Rick Warren — to create a Christ-centered program where people could find freedom from their hurts, hang-ups, and habits.

The first meeting saw 43 attendees and began with four open share groups: Men’s and Women’s Chemical Dependency and Men’s and Women’s Co-Dependency. Since then, thousands have participated in the program at Saddleback Church, many of whom have gone on to serve in Celebrate Recovery and other church ministries. Celebrate Recovery now offers over 500 meetings in the United States. The program has expanded globally, with thousands of churches, recovery houses, rescue missions, universities, and prisons adopting the program

To maintain the integrity of the Celebrate Recovery ministry and utilize its name, churches must adhere to the “DNA” of the program. Celebrate Recovery, a registered trademark, connects ministries globally and offers support from the international community, as well as inclusion on their website. This Christ-centered, bible-based program mandates that Jesus Christ be recognized as the sole Higher Power and that only Celebrate Recovery curricula and the bible are used. The structure of the ministry is group-based, with gender-specific groups that follow strict guidelines. Celebrate Recovery ministries can be in-person or online, provided that they follow necessary confidentiality, licensing, and consent protocols.

Your First Step to Celebrate Recovery: How God Can Heal Your Life by John Baker    

Jesus Christ is the one and only God

1. 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) “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3 NIV
2. Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him and that He has the power to help me recover. (Step 2) “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 NIV
3. Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control. (Step 3) “Blessed are the meek,for they will inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5 NIV
4. Openly examine and confess my hurts, hang-ups and habits to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. (Steps 4 and 5) “Blessed are the pure in heart,for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8 NIV
5. 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) “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6 NIV
6. 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) “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew 5:7 NIV “Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9 NIV
7. 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)
8. Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and my words. (Step 12) “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10 NIV

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, 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
2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Philippians 2:13
3. We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills 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
4. We made a searching and fearless honest inventory of ourselves. “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” Lamentations 3:40
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our hurts, hang-ups, and habits. “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” James 5:16
6. We 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
7. We 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
8. We 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
9. We 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 gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:23-24
10. We 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
11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us, and power to carry that out. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Colossians 3:16
12. Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we try 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 them gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” Galatians 6:1

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Help me live one day at a time, enjoying each moment and accepting hardship as a pathway to peace. Like Jesus, guide me to take this sinful world as it is, not as I wish it to be, trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will. Grant me the grace to be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.

In-person: https://locator.crgroups.info/

Online: https://celebraterecovery.com/ (Enter email address in “Find Freedom From Anywhere” section and Zoom link will be emailed to you)