Mission Statement

The purpose of Heritage Christian Center’s Celebrate Recovery Program is to fellowship and celebrate God’s healing power in our lives through the “8 Recovery Principles”. This experience allows us to be changed. By working and applying these Biblical principles, we begin to grow spiritually.

We become free from our addictive, compulsive and dysfunctional behaviors. This freedom creates serenity, joy and most importantly a stronger personal relationship with God and others. As we progress through the program, we discover our personal, loving and forgiving Higher Power, Jesus Christ.

What Is Celebrate Recovery?

Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered recovery program based on the Beatitudes. It is currently being used in over 3500 churches nationwide and internationally. The leadership team is comprised of individuals and members who have attended and participated in Celebrate Recovery and have dedicated themselves to being trained leaders in Celebrate Recovery.

Celebrate Recovery was written by Pastors Rick Warren and John Baker. 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 in solving our life problems.

By working and applying these Biblical principles, we begin to grow spiritually. We become free from our addictive, compulsive, and dysfunctional behaviors. 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. 

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.

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 

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

1. Keep your sharing focused on your own thoughts and feelings. Limit your sharing to three to five minutes.
2. There will be NO cross talk. Cross talk is when two individuals engage in conversation excluding all others. Each person is free to express his or her feelings without interruptions.
3. We are here to support one another, not “fix” one another.
4. Anonymity (not using names) 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.
5. Offensive language has no place in a Christ-centered recovery group.

Serenity Prayer