When Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount, He began by stating eight ways to be happy. Today we call them the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10). These 8 Principles are God’s road to recovery, wholeness, growth, and spiritual Christ-like maturity. Celebrate Recovery 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 that 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.

Worship provides a time for everyone to put aside the busyness and hassles of the world and get in touch with the true Higher Power, Jesus Christ. It allows time for the power of the Holy Spirit to fill all those who attend with a peace and a safety that only He can provide. The main focus of every fellowship event is to help members develop healthy relationships that will grow into a support team of sponsors and accountability partners. Heart of Mesa’s Celebrate Recovery ministry hosts open meetings every Friday evening beginning at 6:30 for dinner and 7:15 for a time of worship, fellowship and sharing.

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. 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 make those changes. We cannot control all that happens to us, but we can control how we respond to everything. That is a secret of serenity. When we stop wasting time fixing the blame, we have more energy to fix the problem. When we stop hiding our own faults and stop hurling accusations at others, then the healing power of Christ can begin working in our mind, will, and emotions.

It calls for people to make a total surrender of their lives to Christ. Lasting recovery cannot happen without this step. Everybody needs Jesus. Celebrate Recovery addresses all types of hurts, habits, and hang-ups. Some recovery programs deal only with alcohol or drugs or another single problem. But Celebrate Recovery is a “large umbrella” program under which a limitless number of issues can be dealt with.