Recovery Series

Ten years ago, I received a phone call which led to some huge changes in our lives.

We had just returned from a trip to Israel, given to us by the church I was pastoring in central Illinois. On my first day back in the office, I received a call from Jim Koehler, who at the time, was the chairman of the deacon board here at Edgewood, asking if I would be interested in pursuing the senior pastor position at Edgewood. Because we were in a growing church we loved, I politely told him, “No.” When I went home and told Beth about it, she said, “No way.”

Before hanging up, Jim asked if we could meet for lunch in Peoria. I told him if I was ever headed to Peoria, I would let him know (this was my out because I hardly ever went to Peoria). As God would have it, that week I was asked to visit someone in jail in Eureka, which is on the way to Peoria. In addition, two of our church members had just been admitted to the hospital in Peoria. I called Jim back and asked if the offer for lunch was still good.

At the beginning of the conversation, I was not at all interested. Then an hour into the meal, everything changed when Jim leaned forward and told me Edgewood was looking for a pastor to help the church grow in outreach to the community. Then, he talked about Celebrate Recovery. His eyes filled with tears as he shared how hundreds of individuals were finding hope and healing from their hurts, unholy habits, and hang-ups. He described how the forgiveness and freedom found in the gospel permeates the ministry of Celebrate Recovery.

Our very first visit to Edgewood was on a weekday before Super Saturday, now known as Super Summer Slam. Sheila and her team had transformed the entire facility into a child-focused theme. Jim told me he wished we could see the facility as it normally was. I told him I loved it because it showed how Edgewood is willing to do anything to reach kids with the gospel.

During this same visit, Jim’s wife Marcia pointed to some standing ashtrays by the south entrance. She explained the church provided those for people who smoked because Edgewood wants to do everything they can to make people comfortable to hear the life-saving message of forgiveness and freedom in Christ. I knew right then that Edgewood is a place of grace for those who feel out of place. From that point on, I was all in, and we simply followed the Lord’s leading and direction and have now been here for nine years.

I find it so refreshing how so many in Celebrate Recovery talk so openly and honestly about their sins and their spiritual victories. When someone in the community asks me about Edgewood, I always talk about Celebrate Recovery (also known as CR), because you can’t describe Edgewood without celebrating how CR has affected the very DNA of our church!

Here’s the main point I want to get across today: Since God celebrates recovery, so must we!

We’re wrapping up our “RE” series this weekend by focusing on the word “Recovery.” To recover means, “to return to a normal position or condition, to live, to revive, to retake, to recover lost time.” To recover refers to “the action or process of regaining possession or control of something stolen or lost.” It can also mean, “to return to soberness,” from a state of delirium or drunkenness.

According to Isaiah 11:11, God loves to bring recovery to His people: “In that day the Lord will extend His hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of His people.” In Isaiah 38:16, Hezekiah speaks for all who long for recovery: “Oh restore me to health and make me live!” Isaiah 46:4 shows God’s heart for the hurting: “I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

2 Timothy 2:26 in the KJV captures this longing for freedom: “And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” God Himself celebrates recovery in 1 Peter 5:10: “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

Early in His ministry, Jesus stood up in the synagogue and quoted from the Book of Isaiah as recorded in Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” Once we are set free spiritually, Jesus can break every other bondage we are under, including addictions, idolatries, and deep-seated sin patterns.