Freedom Alive

No, you can come to a meeting and start whenever you are ready. We encourage you to come at least three times to give the program a chance to see what the positive impact it can make in your road to recovery.

We meet jointly for the first hour. There will be a time of worship, a time for going over the 8 principles and the corresponding Biblical references, and either a lesson or a testimony will be shared. The second hour will be spent in your People Groups, which is a small group that is safe and gender specific and provides a place for the participant to connect with other Freedom Alive attendees. The groups are targeted towards specific problem areas, such as addiction, depression/ anxiety, relationship issues, and others.

Freedom Alive is a program that leads you through 8 principles and 12 steps over a one-year-period helping each person to work through the issue(s) of struggle and to be set free to become who Jesus meant you for you to be – free to live without fear, without shame or guilt; free to live an abundant life in Christ.

If you have never attended a Celebrate Recovery group before, you might be wondering, “How do I know Celebrate Recovery even works?” Why even invest time and commitment into something that might not be effective?

The good news is that we have seen people find freedom from all kinds of hurts, hang-ups, and habits through Celebrate Recovery.

But how does it work?

Celebrate Recovery works because of the healing power of Jesus Christ. The 8 Recovery Principles are based on the words of Jesus found in Matthew chapter 5. Jesus is the foundation of Celebrate Recovery. Healing comes through having a relationship with Him.

Celebrate Recovery uses groups to help us share our feelings, pain, experiences and growth in ways we may have never been able to before. As we walk closer with Jesus we find other people who walk alongside us to encourage us and keep us focused on our goal of freedom.

Ok, great, but how do I know it works?

One of the best ways to know something works is to read the reviews. Have you ever looked up a product online and read the reviews to see what other people say about it? These are called testimonials. In Celebrate Recovery, we call them testimonies. Every leader at the local Celebrate Recovery in your area is a testimony to the effectiveness of Celebrate Recovery.

No one can lead a Celebrate Recovery group if they haven’t gone through one. They have had their lives changed, and they have seen other lives changed, and this has (caused them) to serve so that more lives can change. If you are thinking of attending Celebrate Recovery and need some proof that your life can change, just look at the leaders! They aren’t perfect, but they have gone through Celebrate Recovery and they are here to help you on your path.

Small Groups CAN:

• Provide you a safe place to share your experiences, strengths, and hopes with others that are going through a Christ-centered recovery.
• Provide you with a leader who has gone through a similar hurt, hang-up, or habit and who will facilitate the group as it focuses on a particular step each week. The leader will also follow five small group guidelines (listed below).
• Provide you with the opportunity to find an Accountability Partner.

Small Groups will NOT:

• Attempt to offer any professional advice. Our leaders are not counselors. At your request, we can provide you with a list of approved counseling referrals.
• Allow its members to “fix” on another. We provide support and encouragement for each other.

The following five guidelines will ensure that your small group is a safe place.

1. Keep your sharing focused on your own thoughts and feelings, not someone else’s. Focusing on yourself will benefit your recovery as well as the ones around you. Limit your sharing to three to five minutes, so everyone has an opportunity to share — and to ensure that one person does not dominate the group sharing time.

2. There is NO cross-talk. Cross-talk is when two people engage in conversation excluding all others. Each person is free to express his or her feelings without interruptions. Cross-talk is also making distracting comments or questions while someone is sharing. This includes speaking to another member of the group while someone is sharing, or responding to what someone has shared during his or her time of sharing.

3. We are here to support one another, not “fix” one another. This keeps us focused on our own issues. We do not give advice or solve someone’s problem in our time of sharing or offer book referrals or counselor referrals!

We are not licensed counselors, psychologists, or therapists, nor are the group members. Celebrate Recovery groups are not designed for this. It is up to the participants to include outside counseling to their program when they’re ready.

4. 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. We are not to share information with anyone. This also means not discussing what is shared in the group among group members. This is called gossip. Please be advised, if anyone threatens to hurt themselves or others, the Small Group Leader has the responsibility to report it to the Celebrate Recovery Ministry Leader.

5. Offensive language has no place in a Christ-centered recovery group. Therefore, we ask that you please watch your language. The main issue here is that the Lord’s name is not used inappropriately.

We also avoid graphic descriptions. If anyone feels uncomfortable with how explicitly a speaker is sharing regarding his/her behaviors, then you may indicate so by simply raising your hand. The speaker will then respect your boundaries by being less specific in his/her descriptions. This will avoid potential triggers that could cause a person to act out.