Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40
What happens when you present the truth without grace, without love, without mercy? I have learned over the years that honesty without grace is cruel; legalism at its worst. You can beat someone over the head with the truth and technically be right, yet be so wrong; that’s living life without grace. I can’t be grace filled while denying my own sin; pride always gets in the way of grace, it cheapens grace because there is no real repentance involved.
There are two kinds of people in this world and I have been both. One is a sinner who admits their sin and the other is a sinner who does not. “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way”, Isaiah 53:6. My recovery started when I finally admitted my sin, on my knees trembling in fear, humbled by my circumstance and filled with guilt and shame. To be honest, I came to Jesus when I had nowhere else to go. My prayer was simple, but powerful because I was truly surrendered—”God, I give up, I can’t do this anymore; please help me.”
The guiding verse for Celebrate Recovery is found in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” In our recovery journey we start to understand that grace is more than a free gift; it is the love that opens the door to freedom, just as repentance opens the door to grace.
To quote Christian author Philip Yancey: “Jesus proclaimed unmistakably that God’s law is so perfect and absolute that no one can achieve righteousness. Yet God’s grace is so great that we don’t have to. By striving to prove how much they deserve God’s love, legalists miss the whole point of the gospel, that it is a gift from God to people who don’t deserve it. The solution to sin is not to impose an ever-stricter code of behavior. It is to know God.”
Celebrate what is found; Recover what was lost.
Love God, love people, Jesus first!
Dana Cramer // Celebrate Recovery at Crossroads
Celebrate Recovery at Crossroads Church Calendar
September 11-17, 2017
Friday, September 15: Lesson Night
- 6 pm: Our Hospitality Team is preparing a wonderful dinner for you. Please join us for food and fellowship.
- 7 pm: Please join us for worship and a message from Amy about “The Seven Reasons We Get Stuck.”
- 8pm: Open Share Groups
- 9pm: Sold Rock Café
NOTICE:
- New Men’s 12-Step Group has started and meets every Monday at 6:30pm in room 146. Enrollment is open.
- New Women’s 12-Step Group has started and meets every Monday at 6:30pm in room 144. Enrollment is open.
- Mark your calendars: The CR annual picnic is Sunday, September 17 in Pavilion #1 at North Lake Park.
