Celebrate Recovery @ FBC Clermont

Celebrate Recovery Materials

2009-10-10T16:27:00.005-04:00

There are a number of resources available to Celebrate Recovery ("CR") participants. It is worth saying that all of these materials are official CR materials. There are lots of other great materials out there too, but in our CR program only authentic CR materials are permitted. For instance, in my one-to-one discussions I may have the opportunity to tell about some of the great books I have read that have helped with my spiritual growth and recovery. But in this blog, in our program, on our information table, we will maintain the CR DNA (that is, Celebrate Recovery's unique characteristics) by using only the official materials.

I have personally used or reviewed some of the following:

The CR podcasts;
The participant's guides;
The Celebrate Recovery Bible;
Testimonies to Go DVDs;
Celebrate Recovery Words DVD;
The Celebrate Recovery Visual Kit (Volume 2);
The Celebrate Recovery Journal; and
I have also listened to Rick Warren's series he preached at Saddleback on recovery.

This is not a complete list of the available materials by any stretch of the imagination. There are a whole bunch of things that I want to use myself, but in the midst of our launch and everything I just have to pace myself because I cannot take it all in at once. If you want to get a look at some of the many resources you can go to the official Celebrate Recovery Web site. There is also an online retailer I have now used twice and feel comfortable endorsing: christianbooksbibles.com.

I'm not trying to drive the sale of our CR materials; we're not making a profit on the sale of these items. But I really think they are valuable and I look forward to using them on my recovery journey.

Officially Underway

2009-09-27T17:16:00.003-04:00

Celebrate Recovery at First Baptist Church of Clermont is officially underway. We've had two great large group meeting nights. The food has been wonderful. The large group time has been exactly what it should be: a time of worship and a chance to share about the only true way to find freedom from our hurts, habits and hangups: Jesus Christ. The open share groups have been safe places to share what's going on in our lives. I have also looked forward to the Cafe time. When I've gone to CR at Real Life I haven't normally stayed for the Cafe, what with needing to get home with the kids and everything. But since I set aside Monday nights and I am not in a hurry to get out I enjoy that time of fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I am so looking forward to what God wants to do through this ministry. The vision of being a vessel in the hands of God as He reaches people with His good news is fulfilling and brings contentment. Please pray for us to stay on target with the good news of Jesus Christ as God's salvation for man's sin problem.

Tomorrow night we launch!

2009-09-13T21:27:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow night we hold our first official Celebrate Recovery meeting. Last week our pastor finished up a sermon series on the beatitudes linked with Celebrate Recovery. This morning I had the opportunity to share a modified testimony in both AM services. I eagerly look forward to tomorrow night and what God has in store for us! I'll post back a little more frequently than just once a month now that we are getting underway.

-Matt

What brings participants to CR?

2009-08-08T23:12:00.004-04:00

What are some of the hurts, habits and hang-ups that bring participants to Celebrate Recovery? A survey would reveal many different things. But below is a sampling that would cover many of those painful things we seek freedom from.

Alcoholism
Divorce
Pornography
Nicotine/Cigarettes/Smokeless Tobacco
Sexual Abuse
Codependency
Domestic Violence
Drug Addiction
Sexual Addiction
Food Addiction
Gambling Addiction
Anger
Compulsive spending

CR is designed to be a safe place for you and I to find freedom from our hurts, habits and hang-ups. I can personally attest to the joy and encouragement I have found in this program with some Christian brothers. I can also attest to some painful anxiety, but God is leading me through it. I look forward to traveling the road of recovery with you!

Ways to be Involved

2009-08-07T22:51:00.012-04:00

Hello my friends! I went to the CR at Real Life tonight. It was a good and healing time. I am humbled by the things that God confronts me with in those places and during church service, when I am listening that is.

I wanted to take a moment to list some of the ways to be involved in the CR that will be launching 9/14/09. Here is a list. If you are interested, please email me.

CR Inside Lake County Jail
Greeter (male & female)
Information Table maintainer
Barbecue setup
General setup and tear down
Café setup
Music mixer
AV Technician
Small Group Leader
Step study leader
Childcare volunteer
Usher
Announcements
Serenity Prayer
Reading of steps or principles & biblical counterparts

These are some of the ways to be involved. If you are not already serving somewhere please prayerfully consider if God may be calling you to serve in Celebrate Recovery.

One more item that has been on my heart recently. It will probably surface frequently. Part of the process of sanctification (becoming more and more like Jesus Christ) is time. I believe that supporting the church financially is an important part of being a disciple of Christ. Because it often takes time to get our house in order, including our financial matters, please make giving to your church a priority now. Even if it is as little as a few dollars each time your are in His house, do it. I do not think I can overemphasize the importance of beginning to give back today. In some cases it takes years to get our financial house in order, but is it really in order if we're not giving to God? No one has to know the amount, that is between you and God. But the generations that helped build many of our churches (expanding God's kingdom by reaching people, not necessarily speaking here of bricks and mortar buildings) will not be around forever. A new generation must be prepared to sacrificially give so that God's kingdom has the provision to continue to expand and reach the people we encounter. If you need financial counsel I know some great resources; email me.

Meeting on 7/19 for . . . YOU!

2009-07-15T13:30:00.005-04:00

Hello! I am enjoying some fine Christian music right now as I write. It says "I know that my Redeemer lives, and now I stand on what He did. My Savior, My Savior lives." My kids really enjoy the song and it is one of my favorites.

Anyway, the purpose of my post is to inform and invite. We are having an information meeting for prospective leaders, volunteers and participants this Sunday, 7/19, at 5:30 in Grace Hall on the FBCC campus. The FBCC campus is at 498 W. Montrose St. in downtown Clermont. You can call or email me for directions or if you need childcare.

We plan to start at 5:30 and finish no later than 7:00. Among the items on the agenda are a testimony from a couple who have led CR at Real Life, some details about the program and the service opportunities there. There will be some light snacks and soda, coffee, tea and water available.

Also, I believe a new development since the last post is that we have a band currently rehearsing for our CR. They've been playing together now for four weeks I think, but this past Monday was their first rehearsal with everyone there. Do you play an instrument and have an interest in participating? Let me know, perhaps it is something that we can work out.

We are excited about ministering with and to each other!

Hey, I'm still here!

2009-06-18T21:45:00.007-04:00

It has been a while. Well almost three months to be exact. We have been working on some ministry items at our church and doing some minor preparation for CR. However, that minor preparation is starting to grow larger and larger. We have scheduled an informational meeting for potential volunteers and leadership on July 19. We have set a start date of Monday, September 14. We are looking so forward to serving with those who come alongside of us. It is a blessing, a joy and truly an encouragement to serve others and serve with others.

Up until a few weeks ago I believed that Jesus washing the disciples' feet was really important, but I believed and felt like I was missing the gravity and full meaning of it. For that to be what Jesus was doing the last night before being taken into custody means something to me. But I was thinking about it the other night while I was trying to put our three-year-old to bed. Honestly, I was aggravated. But then it occurred to me how fortunate I was to have someone there to be the recipient of my love. I was not fortunate because he was loving me back. I was blessed because I could sacrificially care for him and demonstrate my love to him. That's how I am coming to believe about those I will serve with and those we will together serve. We are fortunate to have them, they are a blessing, a gift from God. As we try to mold our lives into what we think would honor Jesus I would say a good place to start is loving God and forgiving and loving others. How can you do that if God doesn't bring you others to love? What an opportunity we have to be part of a family, part of a body of believers! What an opportunity we have to open our lives and sacrifically pour out our lives for those to whom we minister! (I think we begin in our homes, churches, communities and on out into the world.)

So I am excited about what is around the corner and I am excited about the people I am going to share it with. Below is a list of the five guidelines for a CR open share group. They make it a safe place to share and having a safe place to share is so important in recovery.

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 and confidentiality are basic requirements. What is shared in the group stays in the group. The only exception is when someone threatens to harm temselves or others.

5. Offensive language has no place in a Christ-centered recovery group.

Agenda, Participants and Ministry Opportunities

2009-03-22T23:06:00.003-04:00

I am back to write about what a typical Celebrate Recovery ("CR") night looks like, what certain participants may be looking for assistance with and what ministry opportunities are available at CR.

A typical CR program has a general meeting night and a step study night. I will explain in greater detail the differences between open share groups and step study groups, but they are different. Just to be clear, the step study group will meet on a different night from the general meeting night. I am not yet certain if we will be launching our step study groups in August or not. Typically participants spend some time in the general meeting before they are comfortable in an open share group. Then after some time in an open share group they are ready for a step study. While some might be ready to jump in to these three parts immediately, many may not.

We expect to start our general meeting nights on August 3, 2009. That is a Monday night. Unless there is an irreconcilable facilities problem, we will hold our general meeting nights on Monday nights. We should know the answer to this question by the end of April. General meeting nights have a schedule that looks like this:

6:00 - 7:00 BBQ This is a buffet-style dinner for participants and volunteers. The cost will likely be around $3 per person. The menu typically includes hot dogs, chicken and maybe even burgers all cooked on the grill. Sides of salads, chips, condiments, etc. are served as well.
6:45 Childcare will open.
7:00-8:00 The large group, general meeting takes place. During this meeting there is a time of worship, reading of the principles or 12 steps, teaching or testimony time and information or announcements.
8:00-9:00 Open share groups meet. These are gender specific groups. Initially we plan to have one group for men and one group for women. With time as the participation increases these groups will either multiply or specialize. For example, typically there would be an open share group for men that have habit issues they want to deal with and one for men with hurts or hang-ups they want to deal with. The same groups would be available for women. However, to start we will likely have one group for men and one for women. During this time the participants have five minutes to share. The sharing is prompted by a focus question that they can choose to use as a launch-point for their sharing. It is governed by guidelines that are skillfully enforced to make the group a safe place to share.
9:00-9:30 Cafe During this time the participants and volunteers can grab a cup of coffee and share a snack or dessert.
9:30 Children must be picked up from childcare by this time.

Wow, that took up more space and time than I thought. I have to stop there this evening, but I look forward to continuing the post by discussing areas of recovery and ministry opportunities.

Blessings,
Matt

Quick Post

2009-03-22T00:36:00.005-04:00

Back again! I will update more later, but I attended a great CR conference in Nashville, TN today. I just had a moment and so I wanted to drop in a link for a humorous video on denial and the pet gorilla. I'll be back soon.

If YouTube is a source of temptation for you, "just say no". I think you can download it at www.worshiphousemedia.com you might do a search for pet gorilla and see what comes up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpktHJXfCzI

First post!

2009-03-03T20:13:00.000-05:00

Hello World Wide Web! This is the first post for Celebrate Recovery ("CR") at First Baptist Church Clermont ("FBCC"). We have not launched CR at FBCC yet, but we are working on it. My name is Matt and I am helping launch CR at FBCC. Here are a few things we have done and are doing:

We are attending CR at Real Life Christian Church on Friday nights. Unless out of town, we are there every week. They have their BBQ at 6 p.m., large group at 7 p.m. and open share groups from 8-9 p.m. Lastly, they have a cafe with coffee and desserts available from 9-9:30. Childcare is available. Join us there this week!
Jim Voss and I attended a CR workshop at Christ's Church in Jacksonville, FL on February 21. John and Cheryl Baker facilitated the majority of our seminar titled: The Seven Keys of Celebrate Recovery. John is the founder of Celebrate Recovery at Saddleback Church-Cheryl is his wife.
Chris Berg, Jim Voss and I attended a CR at Real Life together and then met with Pat Obrecht. Pat is the CR representative for Central Florida (and other parts of FL right now!).
I gave an overview of CR to the Deacon body of FBCC March 1.

What is coming up next?

Well, I am going to Illinois for vacation later this month. On the way, I am going to attend an Advanced Leadership Training seminar in Hendersonville, TN (outside of Nashville).
We are starting to build our leadership team. How? By getting the word out that CR is coming to FBCC. This Blog is part of that effort. We also look to visit the Connection Groups at FBCC and do a bulletin insert. We will also start getting the word out to possible referral entities (counselors, physicians, court officials).
Tomorrow, March 4, First Baptist Church Orlando launches their Celebrate Recovery ministry. Pray for many people to hear God's good news through this ministry there. Here is a link.

What about a link for Celebrate Recovery's main Web page? No problem, just click here. Next time, what a typical night at CR looks like and for what kinds of issues participants might be seeking recovery (here's a hint, ONLY ONE IN THREE Celebrate Recovery participants are there for alcohol or drug addiction). We will also look at possible volunteer slots we will be inviting people to fill. Exercising God-given gifts to serve Him and those seeking recovery is awesome. If you need to contact me by email please do so. I'll get back to you as soon as I am able.

Matt