Barefoot Church Celebrate Recovery (This CR is no more, sorry)

Info on NMB Celebrate Recovery

2011-07-26T12:18:00.000-04:00

You can stay up to date on the new CR that's being built in North Myrtle Beach by going to the Facebook page and liking it. It can be found here: facebook.com/nmbcr

Local Celebrate Recovery

2011-05-19T14:44:00.000-04:00

Barefoot Church Celebrate Recovery stopped operating inDecember of 2010. This blog will stay in place though because of the powerfullife changing testimonies that can be found here. We pray that God will speakto you in any of them that you choose to watch.

There is a plan to open another Celebrate Recovery in North Myrtle Beach. This will happen in God's time butthe process has been started. Please keep this process and the group of people involvedin your prayers. When a start date is known it will be posted here.

God Bless!

Home Run - The Movie

2010-08-16T12:02:00.000-04:00

Coming baseball season 2012
Read more here!

Testimony by Justin K. (video)

2010-05-06T11:13:00.002-04:00

Justin K. gave his personal testimony on 05-03-10.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Testimony by Anne P. (video)

2010-04-16T08:02:00.007-04:00

Anne P. gave her personal testimony on 04-05-10.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 04-05-10

2010-04-07T06:13:00.005-04:00

Hope you are well and know that the Lord is shining His face on you today. We were honored to have our Pastor, his wife and many others from church to hear Anne's testimony. It was a blessed night in so many ways. There was plenty of food, good fellowship and awesome worship from Sacred Blend. If you weren't there, you missed a heartfelt testimony from Anne P. who is a brand new woman in Christ.

We hope you can join us this Saturday at 9 for a training on the 4th Step. Tim and Liz have joined forces and will be doing another skit to entertain you and help you apply this teaching into your lives. See you this Saturday, April 10th at 9 at church! Snacks are always welcome.

Testimony by Brian B. (video)

2010-03-16T14:47:00.001-04:00

We had a guest speaker Brian B. on 03-08-10. Brian gave his personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 02-22-10

2010-02-25T08:02:00.000-05:00

We had a great night at BCCR Monday night. Our Care Pastor, Jim Evans was the speaker. He did an outstanding job preaching about the power of the Word of God and living and walking in that Truth. Several people stepped up to volunteer in the cafe and we greatly appreciate it.

Remember, this Tuesday, March 2nd, Forest Lawn Celebrate Recovery is starting, and we will be meeting at the church at 5:15 to drive there together. We need a few drivers willing to take people in their car. Have a blessed week and we look forward to seeing you Monday night.

Testimony by Jaime C. (video)

2010-02-11T22:06:00.001-05:00

We had a guest speaker Jaime C. on 02-08-10. Jaime gave her personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Testimony by George H. (video)

2010-02-01T16:12:00.000-05:00

We had a guest speaker George H. on 01-25-10. George gave his personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 01-25-10

2010-01-29T08:19:00.001-05:00

We had a great night at BCCR on Monday night. George H. from Wilmington gave a superb testimony that was straight from the heart. Next week John M. will be bringing us our lesson.

We are still looking for volunteers for the Cafe, greeters, clean up, and set up. Please respond to this by emailing us if you feel the Lord prompting you in any way. Jesus was a servant to model for us how important it is to the Christian life, and for us it is also a key to our recovery. The early Christians fellowshipped, prayed, studied, and worshipped daily. We must remember to find a way to do that ourselves by serving, going to church, going to CR meetings, and going to any length to be in the solution.

Testimony by Lori R. (video)

2010-01-18T20:44:00.002-05:00

We had a guest speaker Lori R. on 01-11-10. Lori gave her personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 01-11-10

2010-01-13T11:05:00.001-05:00

It was another great night at Barefoot Church Celebrate Recovery. We had 96 people show up which included 12 kids in the Celebrate Station program. These children will be doing the same steps as we do throughout the year. Our goal is to help the whole family find recovery and grow in their relationship with Christ. Good job Debra, Rachel and all the helpers that have committed to making this program a success.

We had a speaker from Wilmington, NC Monday night. Her name was Lori, and she gave a powerful testimony that communicated hope throughout her testimony. It is proof that we can be truly changed through a relationship with Christ. Through her testimony she communicated Gods transformation in her life that allows her to be a mom and a great servant in God's kingdom.

The leadership would like to encourage everyone to be bold and invite people to church on Sunday and CR on Monday nights. As the pastor told us in the video lesson on Sunday we serve an awesome God who is capable of anything he chooses to do. We need to introduce people to Him whenever we get the chance. We need to always believe that He can and will help us if we choose to rely on Him... "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13)

Recap of 01-04-10

2010-01-07T17:30:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year Everyone! The First Annual Barefoot Church New Year's Bash was a smashing success. Youth from a Baptist Church in Tabor City came and entertained us with a mime show and beautiful music. Sacred Blend did an hour long set with a Holy Spirit filled altar call at the end leading up to midnight. Over 30 people stayed overnight to have a safe place to ring in the New Year.

Monday night, we had well over 100 people who came to start the year off right. We had a record number of people come up to pick up chips to start fresh and allow the Holy Spirit to heal their hurt, hang up or habit. Barry did an excellent job on the lesson on Denial. He mentioned that this first step is the only one that has to be worked perfectly. If we don't fully surrender our pain to the Holy Spirit, he can't take that weakness and turn it into His strength.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Don't forget the training this Saturday from 9:00 -12:00 at the church office. Liz and Tim have planned an interactive lesson on sponsorship complete with prizes! See you all then.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T23:55:00.002-05:00

It's almost 2010 as this is being written! Here's a sneak peak at what could be coming next: CLICK HERE! Take a look and find the "Comments" page and let us know what you think.

Testimony by Carl B. (video)

2009-12-24T23:26:00.001-05:00

We had a guest speaker Carl B. on 12-14-09. Carl gave his personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Testimony by Carmen B. (video)

2009-12-24T23:16:00.003-05:00

Carmen B. gave her personal testimony on 11-30-09.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 12-21-09

2009-12-23T14:01:00.001-05:00

We had a great night at Celebrate Recovery Monday night. It began with another chili cook off. Ron was the winner and revealed his secret ingredient, chocolate!! The worship team praised with all their hearts and the Christmas carols sung without instruments were a beautiful noise unto the Lord. The Spirit was surely felt. Shawn brought us the message on the 7 things that keep people stuck and from growing in the Lord. He did a super job and shared many of his own experiences with us. We had a planning meeting during small group time for those people who are serving for BCCR New Year's Eve/Day Bash. We are getting geared up and appreciate all the support from the church and our beloved pastor and his family who plan on joining us in the celebration! If you would like to help in any way, please let us know by sending us an email. We still have many openings on the cafe, security, greeting, set-up, childcare and clean-up teams. We are having the event from 6 PM New Year's Eve to 8 AM New Year's Day.

Recap of 12-14-09

2009-12-17T17:32:00.000-05:00

Carl from Cornerstone Church in Myrtle Beach came and gave his testimony. It was heartfelt, honest, courageous and transparent. It never ceases to amaze me that grown men continue to bare their souls with us. Where else can we go and get this kind of gut renching honesty from people? It gives all of us hope that one day the Holy Spirit will give some us that call ourselves mature Christians the kind of courage these men and women portray as they continue to give their testimony every other week. Many of these people even choose to allow us to film them so their testimony will be available online for others around the world to view or use for their own meetings. We have even heard from a CR group that started up in a jail and uses our testimonies in their meetings.

Thanks to those of you who showed up for the training on Saturday. It was a big success. Tim and Liz are already thinking of creative ideas for the next training that will be held on the 2nd Saturday of January on sponsorship. Mark you calendars now.

We are gearing up for our New Year's Eve Bash that will be held at Barefoot Church due to the graciousness of our Pastor who believes in this ministry because we have the same vision as the church: Changing Lives that Change the World. Invite cards will be ready Friday for us to pass out to everyone we know who needs a safe place to ring in the New Year. Let us know if you would like some to pass out. It will be from 6 PM New Year's Eve to 8 AM on New Year's Day and limited childcare will be provided.

Be patient with us as we work out the technical difficulties with our camera and getting the testimonies up for viewing on the blog.

UPDATE: We have the last two testimonies ready to be uploaded and now Vimeo is having some technical issues preventing this. So now that we have our technical problems resolved we’re now waiting on others to get theirs resolved! Please keep praying!

Good News!

2009-12-15T13:56:00.002-05:00

We got the camera back to capture our videos with! There have been three testimonies given since the last one that was posted. The first of those three was given by Erin K. from Beach Church CR and she gave us permission to post it here but unfortunately there were technical difficulties that evening and her testimony was not recorded. We do have the last two on tape though and they will be on here soon. Carmen’s is being captured right now and should be up by tomorrow. Carl B. from Cornerstone CR gave his testimony last night and it’s next in line after Carmen’s.

Recap of 12-07-09

2009-12-10T07:35:00.002-05:00

We had a great night on Monday at Barefoot Celebrate Recovery. We have been fortunate to have some dedicated leaders cook for us weekly and are always looking for more volunteers in that area. Sacred Blend rocked the house as usual with a Spirit filled worship set. Barry R. delivered the lesson entitled, "Yes." It was more about spreading the gospel, sharing our experience with others and yielding ourselves fully so we can be used by the Lord.

Tim and Liz are gearing up for a training on Saturday that will be presented in a creative way in keeping with the Barefoot tradition. You will also get a chance to break up into small groups yourself for a little friendly competition. If you have ever been a victim of gossip, having your anonymity broken, or been a victim of crosstalk in a meeting, you won't want to miss this one. You will understand like never before why the guidelines are sacred in Celebrate Recovery, and that they come straight from the Bible - much from Matthew 18. In addition, you will feel more comfortable after this training enforcing the guidelines yourself, if you are a leader of a meeting, as well as how to run a smooth step meeting. All leaders are required to attend and potential leaders PLEASE JOIN US!!!! Snacks are welcome. See you all Saturday at the Church office on 2nd Avenue North at 9:00. We should be done no later that 11:30.

Sorry for the delay

2009-12-03T08:04:00.002-05:00

Sorry for not getting the latest testimonies up here in a timely fashion. Apparently we’ve lost access to the camera we were using to capture with. We are in the process of trying to come up with another one if indeed this is the case. Please keep checking back, we’re confident that God will provide us with everything we need and we will get the testimonies given in the last few weeks up here ASAP.

Recap of 11-30-09

2009-12-02T11:35:00.001-05:00

Last night despite the MANY technical difficulties, God showed up at Barefoot Church Celebrate Recovery. There was a good crowd even during the holiday season and good food was enjoyed by all.

We had a very lively heartfelt testimony that will be available for viewing here soon given by Carmen. We were excited to see Pastor Clay and Kim come to hear Carmen's testimony.

We are gearing up for our important Leadership Training next Saturday from 9-12 at the church office. We will be going over the Guidelines, How to Lead and Participate in a Step Group and How to Lead a Step Group through the Fourth Step. Tim from Beach church will be joining Liz for the training session. It should be interesting and interactive. We are thanking God in advance for the best attendance yet!

Recent Vistors Map

2009-12-01T14:17:00.003-05:00

I just discovered this map in our tracking software; this is just over the last two weeks!

Recap of 11-23-09

2009-11-24T11:24:00.001-05:00

It was another night of great praise and worship last night at Barefoot Church Celebrate Recovery. The CR band set the tone with some incredible praise and worship music. You could feel the presence of God among us.

The lesson was on the GIVE principle. It was a great reminder that we need to remember that God comes first in this process. Then we display this principle by moving into a spirit of action followed by the victories that we share with others. By doing this, we become witnesses for Christ.

The Team told everyone of the opportunity we have to do some giving ourselves. From New Year's Eve at 12 Noon to New Year's Day 12 Noon, the church will be open for anyone who needs a safe place to usher in the New Year. I can think of no better way to celebrate our first official year in this ministry. We will have food, games, great music, and show a great movie. A lot of members have already stepped up to serve. We believe if we seek God, He will show up in a mighty way. Mark your calendars now. You won't want to miss this evening with God and friends.

Recap of 11-16-09

2009-11-19T18:25:00.002-05:00

We were honored to have Erin K. from Beach Church give us her testimony. She was very open and transparent with us and she set the tone for a great night of small groups. Everyone loved our new meeting rooms. We now have space to spread out and privacy to boot thanks to the new children's building. Next week stay tuned to a teaching on the 12th step - sharing the message with others and practicing these biblical principals in all our affairs....A tall order, but with His strength all things are possible.

Recap of 11-09-09

2009-11-11T17:32:00.004-05:00

The Celebration Station Children's program is going very well and the children are excited to be at Barefoot Church learning more about Jesus each week.

Barry brought us the lesson on gratitude coinciding with the 11th step on prayer and mediation. He added many examples from his own life of things he is grateful for including a Pastor who takes the time to think of relevant messages that he can apply to his life. He referred to Sunday's sermon. (All this rain the past couple of days really helps solidify the "umbrella" analogy from 2 Tim 3:16. For those that didn't see the sermon last week, you can see it on BarefootChurch.com. It will be well worth your time and entertaining too :)).

Taking the time to seek the Lord first thing in the morning is so important. Matthew 6:33 promises us: "But, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you". The next verse after that is, "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Therefore, it can be concluded that if we pray and meditate on His word first thing in the morning, we won't be as likely to worry about things that He has well in hand. Have a dry week and make sure your umbrella doesn't have too many holes in it. Might be a good week to open the Bible every day and take in the whole counsel of the Word of God.

Testimony by Paul C. (video)

2009-11-03T16:59:00.004-05:00

We had a guest speaker Paul C. on 11-02-09. Paul gave his personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 10-26-09

2009-10-28T14:47:00.000-04:00

Monday night at Barefoot Church Celebrate Recovery, we had a great lesson on relapse and how to avoid it, using how Jesus faced temptation as an example. John M. did a great job presenting the lesson and thanked us for our prayers for his wife LeAnne who is recovering nicely from her surgery. In case you missed the lesson, you have another chance to hear it again at Beach Church on Friday night. Barry reminded us relapse does not have to be a part of recovery and there are some of us that have not relapsed thanks to the grace of Jesus Christ. Don't forget there is an important Leadership Meeting/Training on Saturday, November 7th at the church office at 9:00 am. If you would like to be involved in leadership in any way, we welcome you to attend and find out more about the opportunities awaiting you.

Recap of 10-19-09

2009-10-21T15:17:00.000-04:00

We were blessed to have a guest speaker join us from another CR. He really opened up and shared his heart with us. We all were blown away at his honesty and the amount of courage it took to admit all of his sins with us. He also shared his incredible victories thanks to his total surrender to Jesus Christ which he did before he entered Celebrate Recovery. He has been living the 12 steps taken from the beatitudes for several years now, and it shows. God has changed him from the inside out. After hearing this testimony, it’s easy to realize God has only just begun His work in us. His dedication to living the life Jesus wants us to, is a true witness to us all! This was an incredible testimony – if you weren’t there to hear it Monday night you really missed a good one. We only put testimonies on here that we have permission to do so. This speaker asked us not to and of course we respect that decision. This is why you want to try and come in person because they might not all make it to here!

Recap of 10-12-09

2009-10-13T13:14:00.002-04:00

Last night started off with an awesome night of worship as Sacred Blend led us through a Spirit filled set of songs. We were honored to have Tim V. from Beach Church join us to give us a lesson from the 10th step on the importance of daily inventory with a focus on journaling. He gave us all a sample of a journal which included some tough questions to ask ourselves about our godly behavior throughout the day. He brought up the different types of inventories: daily, periodic and yearly and the importance of all three to keep spiritually fit. If you missed it, you can go over it yourself in the step book because as Tim brought up, the lessons, "Daily Inventory" and "Yes" are the 2 most important lessons to continue spiritual health as Christians. Mark your calendar for the leadership meeting the first Saturday in November at 9 am. Have a blessed week.

Testimony by Jamie P. (video)

2009-10-06T16:23:00.007-04:00

We had a guest speaker Jamie P. on 10-05-09. Jamie gave her personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 10-05-09

2009-10-06T10:53:00.006-04:00

We had a real night of celebration last night at Barefoot Church Celebrate Recovery. First, many pitched in to have our first "Soup Cook Off." There were over 10 different types to choose from and the people's choice won a $40 gift certificate to Applebee's. The night continued with a great worship time and heartfelt testimony from Jamie P. of Myrtle Beach Community Church. If you missed it, you can see it here later today or at the latest Wednesday morning to hear how misplaced love can cause real hurts and hang ups. Finally hear how Jesus always came to her rescue and ultimately healed her of her issues. More children came back this week to hear their next lesson from the "Celebration Station" curriculum on denial. They are really getting a lot out of it, and we are already seeing changes in the children. Thank you Deborah and Rachel for your devotion to God's children! Hope to see you next week when Tim V. of Myrtle Beach Community Church shares on the 10th step and the importance of journaling. Thanks Tim for Celebrate Recovery ENews and keeping us informed of events in the surrounding area taking place in Celebrate Recovery.

Testimony by Cheryl S. (video)

2009-09-30T13:00:00.001-04:00

We had a guest speaker Cheryl S. on 09-28-09. Cheryl gave her personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 09-28-09

2009-09-30T08:18:00.001-04:00

God gets all the glory for bringing hurting and healing people back week after week. Cheryl S. shared her personal testimony and was gracious enough to allow us to film her. It will be available here soon! Her testimony was very powerful and has a strong message for many of us that are devoted servants to the Lord. It was an excellent follow up to Pastor Clay's spirited sermon on the 2nd half of the gospel this past Sunday. You have to view it for yourself to see how God got that message across to Cheryl in a real and personal way. It totally delivered her from all that she was enslaved to. We invite you to join us next week for another great lesson.

You also invited to join us Saturday, October 3rd at the Christian American Music Festival where Chris Gastardi will be speaking at 2:00 and the Celebrate Recovery Band will be playing at 2:20. There will be four other bands and many other great speakers including Shawn Norton, the Celebrate Recovery State Representative for SC.

Recap of 09-21-09

2009-09-22T17:56:00.002-04:00

Cathy H. delivered a great lesson on Crossroads last night. This lesson corresponds to Principle 7: Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will. She asked God to speak through her, and He did as she spoke straight from the heart. The message was powerful, but she personalized it with examples from her own life as well. Those of us that are in step groups know how powerful the "Crossroads" assignment was to journal about our behavior each day in a one week period. This was to reflect on how we handled our reactions to people and situations so that we might identify patterns, look at our part and grow through the process. The suggestion Cathy reminded us of, written by John Baker of Saddleback Church, was to keep doing this throughout our Christian walk, but not to forget to note when we handled things well too.

Testimony by Deborah B. (video)

2009-09-16T09:36:00.001-04:00

Deborah B. gave her personal testimony on 09-14-09.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 09-14-09

2009-09-16T09:29:00.003-04:00

Hope you are all well. We had a great showing at Celebrate Recovery Monday night. It was the largest group since the launch with 104 people total in attendance. The worship band gave God all the glory and prepared our hearts for Deborah B.'s testimony. She has recovered from Co-Dependency and many other wounds from her childhood that, according to her, "no child should have to endure." Her testimony is available to watch on here and you don't want to miss this one. Forgiveness permeated her testimony which gave us a little insight as to the love that Jesus has for all of us even though we hurt Him deeply at times. God bless you all and have a great week!

Recap of 09-07-09

2009-09-08T14:22:00.002-04:00

Last night the CR band set the tone with a worship experience that brought in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Then Shawn, our State Representative, brought a powerful lesson on the grace of God. One memorable moment was when he passed out a check from Jesus to us and the amount of the payment was "Grace." We were then asked to fill our names in the "Pay to the Order of" category. Even though it was a holiday weekend, the Lord still brought 82 people and 4 children. Praise be to the Lord and Barefoot Church for giving us the opportunity to serve others who are desperate to heal their hurts, habits and hang-ups. The verses of the lesson are the theme verses of Celebrate Recovery: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is enough for you. When you are weak, my power is made perfect in you.’ So I am very happy to brag about my weaknesses. Then Christ's power can live in me. For this reason I am happy when I have weaknesses, insults, hard times, sufferings, and all kinds of troubles for Christ. Because when I am weak, then I am truly strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NCV).

Testimony by John M. (video)

2009-09-01T16:13:00.001-04:00

John M. gave his personal testimony on 08-31-09.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 08-31-09

2009-09-01T11:58:00.001-04:00

Once again we had another spirit filled night of worship by our recently and appropriately named Celebrate Recovery Band, "The Sacred Blend." They set the tone for a testimony by John M., Barry's Co-Director of Celebrate Recovery at Barefoot Church; that was deeply powerful and full of God's healing touch. If you couldn't make it, it will be well worth your while to check it out here later today or early tomorrow at the latest. You will learn about the countless miracles that happened in John's life as he diligently acted out what James 5:16 directs us to do. "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray one another so you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." He gives example after example of answered prayer and healing. You won't want to miss this one. The last verse I want to give you applies to the testimony you heard and perhaps your own life and is full of hope, "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me, I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day." John 6:39. AMEN and AMEN

September is National Recovery Month!

2009-09-01T09:04:00.003-04:00

Just thought you'd like to know! :)

Recap of 08-24-09

2009-08-25T15:17:00.002-04:00

Last night at Celebrate Recovery we had a great lesson on Forgiveness from our guest speaker, George B. from Alexandria, (Celebrate Recovery Ministry Leader and Children's Pastor at his church). If you couldn't make it, you missed a great delivery by a dynamic speaker.

Praise God for the all the baptisms we had on Sunday throughout all of Barefoot Church and Monday school starting up to emphasize how important it is to work Christ's principles in our lives every day for everyone in the body of Christ! Jesus' prayer before He went to the Father for us to be unified comes to mind. John 17: 21: "...that they may all be one even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me."

Next week our very own John M. will be giving his testimony. You won't want to miss this! His is a true life transformation. See you next week.

Testimony by Lynn W. (video)

2009-08-18T15:26:00.001-04:00

Lynn W. gave her personal testimony on 08-17-09.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 08-17-09

2009-08-18T07:39:00.003-04:00

Last night we really felt the Lord's presence, first with the Celebrate Recovery band and later, as Lynn W. shared her personal testimony and complete deliverance through the prayer of God's people and Jesus Christ. Watch her testimony to see how Celebrate Recovery later became such an important part of her life. It should be on here later today or at the latest Wednesday. We also had several people confirm that they are getting baptized and new people sign up for Sunday. Glory to God in the Highest who will not share His glory with another.

Join us next week when our special friend George B. from Virginia joins us with a lesson on forgiveness. We will also be sharing a special time of the Lord's Supper together in the large group. You won't want to miss next week. See you then. :))

Blog Comments

2009-08-16T08:12:00.001-04:00

There was recently a negative comment left on here about our leadership. We will not publish such comments but will instead address it this way.

If you have a genuine interest and concern for our ministry and our leadership I would like to ask you to please pray. Pray for us and for God’s will to be done in and through us. We are just people, flawed people trying to grow in our own relationships with Christ and to give back what has so freely been given to us, His love.

If there is something going on you don’t like we invite you to come to our monthly meetings (the first Saturday at 9:00 am) and to freely express yourself and your concerns. That is a way to get involved and to possibly make a positive influence. Leaving negative comments here is not the solution and frankly, not very Christ like.

We hope you will pray for us as we are praying for you, be blessed…

Recap of 08-10-09

2009-08-11T17:24:00.004-04:00

Last night at CR our ministry leader Barry delivered the lesson titled “Amends”. Barry mentioned that he knew it was a hard lesson to hear. This is such an important part of our recovery and our Christian walk. If we know we have offended somebody we must make an amends and if we’ve been offended we must forgive. That’s how you get on the road to freedom. Jesus says in Luke 6:36 that we must be compassionate (or merciful) just as our Father is compassionate. This isn’t a casual suggestion, He said we must. The next verse He says forgive others and we will be forgiven. That’s something to think about!

Barry was busy last night, before our large group he grilled up some chicken breast that Ron had marinated and they were awesome! You never know what we’ll be eating at CR but we will be eating! You have to come and find out.

Next week we have special testimony from a woman who used to would have been classified as a guest speaker but she has become one of our regular attendees. She drives probably 40 miles every Monday to be with us so make sure you make it out to hear her testimony.

Testimony by Jeff S. (video)

2009-08-04T13:38:00.001-04:00

We had a guest speaker Jeff S. on 08-03-09. Jeff gave his personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 08-03-09

2009-08-04T09:05:00.005-04:00

Last night at CR Jeff S. who is a CR ministry leader from Fayetteville, NC gave his personal testimony. He spoke about his involvement in biker gangs and about how he ended up becoming addicted to crack cocaine. Two and a half years ago he surrendered his life to Jesus and then ended up at a Celebrate Recovery meeting in …
You can hear Jeff’s entire journey (so far) for yourself by coming back to our blog and watching his testimony from last night. It will be here later today or by tomorrow at the latest.

Jeff initiated an alter call by first asking a simple question, “If you were to die tonight, are you sure if you’d go to Heaven?” He then asked anybody that wasn’t sure to raise their hand. Four people ended up committing or recommitting their life to Jesus and have also shown an interest in being baptized the next time the church does baptisms. Amen! Our powerful and almighty Father is always at work, He is so good!

Recap of 07-27-09

2009-07-28T09:37:00.004-04:00

Last night Rand A. did an excellent job delivering the lesson titled “Victory”. Jesus told us we would have struggles but He also promises we’ll have victories through Him. Paul told us in Romans 5:3-5 that “we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” That’s victory! But sometimes it must start with sufferings.

Barry also spent some time talking about the upcoming Dreamfest this Saturday. If any of you reading this and don’t know, it’s going to be huge this time; you don’t want to miss it. The United Way is providing some funds for this one to be spent on food to the tune of 8 times what is usually spent! Come participate, volunteer, go through the line, tell everyone you can, all the food must be given away. What a powerful opportunity we all have to share the love of Jesus with our community and with each other. Our CR Band will be playing some live music and rumor has it there might also be food being cooked and served for everyone! Make sure you wear your Celebrate Recovery or Barefoot Church t-shirt if you have one.

Next Monday night we have a special guest, Jeff S. giving his personal testimony. Jeff is a CR ministry leader from Fayetteville, NC and he has an incredible testimony to share.

Testimony by Cheri D. (video)

2009-07-21T17:18:00.003-04:00

We had a guest speaker Cheri D. on 07-20-09. Cheri gave her personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 07-20-09

2009-07-21T13:10:00.004-04:00

We had a wonderful time at CR last night. Our CR Band rocked “Can't No Grave Hold My Body Down” for the first time. And they were coming through the “house” sound for the first time in long time, not completely but we’re getting there!

Cheri D. from Beach Church CR gave her testimony which covered a lot of different issues God has brought her through. There is something in her story that you can relate to, we promise. She did give us permission to upload it to our blog so you can look for it here by at least tomorrow. If you weren’t with us last night you should really take the time to hear her journey. Or if you were with us and you want to share it with someone, send them to the blog, that’s what it’s here for!

Next week Rand A. from Beach Church CR will be delivering the lesson titled “Victory”, what a great name for a lesson! We like to say “it works if you work it!” The victories are what we love to celebrate together. It can be a lot of hard work but as our testimonies always confirm, through Jesus Christ, there are victories to be had!

Recap of 07-13-09

2009-07-14T13:29:00.004-04:00

Last night at CR our ministry leader Barry delivered a lesson titled “Ready”. It spoke about how we must be ready to get one on one with God and surrender all to Him but then to make sure we replace the bad that we allow God to remove with good. We must allow God to fill the empty wholes with positives. In other words when we clean our house out, we can’t leave it empty.

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.
Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."
Matthew 12:43-45

Next week we have another special guest from our sister CR at Beach Church. This woman has a tremendous testimony. We don’t know yet if she will allow us to put it on our blog but she may not so you might want to make plans to be here in person because you won’t want to miss this!

By the way, we no longer put lessons on the blog but we do still record them. If anyone ever would like to see the video of a particular lesson you can request a DVD by emailing us.

Strand Recovery ENews July 2009

2009-07-08T13:28:00.003-04:00

Strand Area Celebrate Recovery’s July Newsletter

Testimony by Gary & Michelle W. (video)

2009-07-07T16:54:00.000-04:00

We had guest speakers Gary & Michelle W. on 07-06-09. They gave their personal testimony.

(Some images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 07-06-09

2009-07-07T10:35:00.005-04:00

What a time we had at CR last night! God’s Spirit was felt by all present. We always have a time of prayer at the alter at the end of our large group but last night people were drawn to do so early on during our opening praise & worship music. It was incredible and powerful. God also brought the most people we’ve had on a regular (no special event) CR night since the week after our Grand Launch (84 people including 2 children). We heard a powerful testimony from Gary & Michelle W. that was from the heart with honesty and compassion along with there own PowerPoint, special music, unknown speaker and sea shells! I guess you had to be there! If you weren’t, or if you were and want to share it with someone, it will be here on our blog by sometime tomorrow. You’ll miss some of the special effects but you’ll still get to hear their awesome testimony.

Next week one of our own will be presenting a lesson titled “Ready”. Prayerfully consider coming to see what CR is all about if you’ve never been and if you’ve been before but not recently we invite you back to see how God is growing this ministry and we invite you to get involved, for your own healing as well as the healing of others. Come catch the wave!

Check out Tuesday Night Rewind tonight at www.BarefootChurchLive.com to hear more about this exciting ministry. It starts at 7:00 pm.

CR Cookout

2009-06-29T14:18:00.003-04:00

We had a wonderful time yesterday at our CR Cookout. Last month we had a small cookout that was basically just people from our CR group. That was our practice run. Yesterday we wanted to serve our church leaders and volunteers. We did with the help of leaders from two other area Celebrate Recovery groups. We estimated we had about 150 people present throughout the afternoon. We had two egg toss contests which of all people our pastor and his wife won the first one! It was an awesome time of fellowship and it gave us an opportunity to serve and give back to our church.

Testimony by Brandon H. (video)

2009-06-25T07:14:00.006-04:00

We had a guest speaker Brandon H. on 06-22-09. Brandon gave his personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Danny B. ~ 1 Year Clean (video)

2009-06-17T11:24:00.002-04:00

06-15-09 Danny B. gives a mini-testimony after receiving his “1 Year Coin”.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Testimony by Mary B. (video)

2009-06-17T08:59:00.006-04:00

We had a guest speaker Mary B. on 06-08-09. Mary gave her personal testimony. (Sorry it's so late getting here.)

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 05-25-09

2009-05-26T07:38:00.002-04:00

We had a very nice Memorial Day CR service last night. We started out with a couple of patriotic songs and a video about the state of our country reminding us to pray for it. We also acknowledged our veterans we had with us. We had a special moment with Ron C., who just celebrated 1 year of living a new life. Pat the Poet wrote and read him a poem. Then we heard a very moving testimony from a special guest speaker. This person chose to not have their testimony recorded and put on the web so if you missed it, sorry.

If you haven’t went back and read any old posts then you might not know but we are no longer putting lessons on the web either. We’ve actually gone back and took them all off. We will only put testimonies that we’re given signed permission up on the web. Make every effort you can to get to a CR near you on a regular basis to here these life changing lessons and testimonies. The fellowship and time to share is also so valuable.

Last night we had 48 people including 6 children.

Our first CR Cookout!

2009-05-18T09:32:00.004-04:00

We had an awesome time in the park yesterday! This was our first official CR Cookout, with plans of many more. We had about 40 people who showed up between the 3-4 hours we were there. A lot of people weren’t CR people (yet anyway!) who had just heard about it at church and came to check it out. We cooked about 70 burgers and 50 hot dogs and even fed a couple people who just walked by, it was great. We had an egg toss that ended up being a little messy for a few people and we had a “not your average” volleyball game. Only one person remembered a camera and apparently it only had a few pictures left on it so we missed a lot of stuff but we did get a few pics and there on here!

We hope to do this monthly for the rest of the season. Oh yea, there was like an 80-90% chance of rain and thunderstorms yesterday and it didn’t look to promising at the beginning but a couple of us prayed that God might hold it off for us. Well, the sun tried to come out but it didn’t rain until about 30 minutes after we had all left and then the bottom fell out! Thank you Father for answered prayer and for Your Son that came out in each one of us and for a wonderful time we all had!

Testimony by Shawn N. (video)

2009-05-14T06:48:00.004-04:00

We had a guest speaker Shawn N. on 05-11-09. Shawn gave his personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

We Got Answers!

2009-05-13T12:40:00.001-04:00

Wow, right after writing the previous post we got word about the video situation. We’ve been asked to take the lesson videos down but we can keep doing the testimonies as long as we continue to get permission.

With that said, that’s what we will do! Right after this is post is posted the lessons will have been removed and they will be marked private on Vimeo so you won’t be able to see them there either. I guess you’ll just have to join us in person or find a CR near you to hear the lessons which isn’t a bad thing either. The testimonies are all “one of a kind” and we still get to put those up, praise God! It’s our prayer that they will touch your life and or someone you know.

We were also told we should be on the national website any day now!

Thank you Jesus for allowing us to be involved with this ministry and all the work You do in and through this ministry, thank you Saddleback Church for starting it, thank you Barefoot Church for having it and thank you for everyone’s patience and understanding while we got all this worked out.

We're Still Here!

2009-05-13T11:28:00.005-04:00

Don’t give up on us! We have just hit a minor bump in the road on our “Road to Recovery”. We found out recently at a CR Leadership One Day Training that our posting of videos is on the “edge” of what is OK according to the National CR Leadership Team. We found this out while inquiring into why we are not yet listed in the “Find a Group” section of
www.CelebrateRecovery.com. We’re not sure if one has anything to do with the other but we are still looking into both. We want to comply and we will comply with whatever decisions are made; we are just waiting to find out. We have heard a couple different things, one that podcasts would be OK, just not video but we’ve also heard that doing Testimony videos, with permission of the speaker, are OK just not Lesson videos. We have been obtaining signed permission from everybody we have posted videos of from the beginning and will continue to do so. We did have one person so far that wasn’t comfortable with it so we didn’t even turn the camera on that night.

If we have done anything wrong we didn’t realize it and didn’t intend to. The way we have seen this is while trying to model CR from Saddleback like we are trained we should, we are also trying to follow the DNA of our church. Barefoot Church is big on leveraging technology to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our church use video regularly and has recently started an Internet Campus which live streams our 3 weekend services, our Wednesday night youth service and has already done a Bible study live called Basic Training. All these live broadcast are not meant for people to stay home instead but are targeted to people who wouldn’t otherwise be hearing the message. There are tons of possibilities here; people who are curious (anywhere in the world by the way), people who aren’t physically able to get out, people on vacation from our church, people that came to our church while on vacation after they get back home, people in hospitals, people under lockdown whether in Rehab, jail, prison or whatever. This list could go on and on. Jesus said to take the Gospel to all ends of the world; the internet is one tool to do that. There is so much bad stuff on the internet that there needs to be plenty of good stuff on there too.

These are some of the reasons that motivate us to do what we do the way we do it. We would like to see our Monday night CR Large Group on our Internet Campus one day too. Of course the camera would always only point at the stage and everybody that got on the stage would know. Up until now our hold up was not having a big enough tech team on Monday nights to get it done. But now we realize that our higher ups in CR might not approve it and if that’s the case so be it.

We would love to hear your thoughts on any of this stuff. We encourage you to leave a comment on this post with your feelings. Keep it real just keep it appropriate also! Thanks and have a blessed day.

Testimony by Cathy H. (video)

2009-05-05T17:07:00.008-04:00

Cathy H. gave her personal testimony on 04-27-09.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Celebrate Recovery 8 Principles Countdown (video)

2009-04-30T07:09:00.001-04:00

This video was put together to be used to start our Large Group meeting on Monday nights at Barefoot Church Celebrate Recovery. The first one that was made was from video footage from our Grand Launch in January and wasn’t made accessible on the web because of all the different people shown in it. This one is just a slide show using an 8 Principles PowerPoint from Saddleback Church. We will be making more variations so not to get tired of the same one. The music is “The Road to Recovery” by Rick Muchow, worship leader at Saddleback Church. We will probably continue to use this same song in future countdown videos for the sake of consistency with an audible cue to let people know we’re getting ready to start. (side note: Don’t judge the video to hard, I’m a beginner!

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 04-27-09

2009-04-28T10:45:00.003-04:00

Last night Cathy H. gave her personal testimony. It was very powerful; God has done an amazing work in Cathy’s life. She gives all the credit to Jesus, whom she came to know more and more in Celebrate Recovery working through the 12 Biblical Steps.
The video won’t be up as quick this week because our camera that we capture with went on a road trip but it will be up ASAP.
We had 63 people including 4 children last night. We’d like to send out a special thank you to our child care volunteers for continuing to show up every week so that a few parents can enjoy a CR evening knowing that their children are in a safe place. We believe this special part of our CR ministry will also grow in God’s time, thank you!

Fire update

2009-04-23T23:37:00.003-04:00

Several members from our church have lost their homes in a neighborhood that lost around 70 homes. 15,000 acres have burned. We haven’t heard about any injuries. God has strengthened our community throughout the day today. Barefoot Church became one of the shelters in town and local restaurants, stores and individual people have poured food and resources into our church all day and night long. It’s been incredible. As bad as this situation is, God is still drawing good from it.

Fire out of control

2009-04-23T07:17:00.004-04:00

Please keep our county in your prayers as there is a fire spreading out of control. 2500 people have been evacuated from one neighborhood in our community this morning. As many as 70 homes have burned already. Looking out my window right now I see smoke and ash falling like snow. The fire has moved across 8000 plus acres since noon yesterday. Please pray, pray & pray.

Recap of 04-20-09

2009-04-21T17:29:00.005-04:00

Greetings,

Late again! Rumor has it we may need a volunteer that would love to take over the "Monday Night Recap", please email if your interested. The video is also running a little behind schedule but will be on the blog sometime tomorrow.
Last night was yet another great time at CR. Gary W. delivered Lesson 8 titled "Sponsor" very effectively. The band sounded great even though their still not using the church's soundboard (we have to work on that). We had great food with a total of 61 people including 5 children. We continue to see new faces as well as miss some of our regular (not old) faces. Pray, pray pray!

Celebrate Recovery 12 Step Countdown (video)

2009-04-15T17:58:00.006-04:00

This video was put together to be used to start our Large Group meeting on Monday nights at Barefoot Church Celebrate Recovery. The first one that was made was from video footage from our Grand Launch in January and wasn’t made accessible on the web because of all the different people shown in it. This one is just a slide show using the 12 Step PowerPoint from Saddleback Church. We will be making more variations so not to get tired of the same one. The music is “The Road to Recovery” by Rick Muchow, worship leader at Saddleback Church. We will probably continue to use this same song in future countdown videos for the sake of consistency with an audible cue to let people know we’re getting ready to start. (side note: Don’t judge the video to hard, I’m a beginner!)

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 04-13-09

2009-04-14T06:45:00.001-04:00

We had a great time at CR last night. We continue to have some new faces showing up each week. The fellowship time was good as were the tacos (Taco Bell)! Our leader that was scheduled to give our lesson wasn’t able to this week so we went with our back up plan, a “Testimony to Go”. A DVD made by Saddleback Church with recorded testimonies on it. We watched a lady named Mary give her testimony and it was quite powerful. We won’t be putting that here on the blog though, sorry, if you want to see Mary’s testimony you’ll have to get the DVD from Saddleback or see if John will let you watch it. You can go into the archives and watch videos from previous weeks that you haven’t seen yet. We will hopefully have a new one on here next week, God willing.
We had 56 people last night including 3 children.

Testimony by Barry R. (video)

2009-04-07T16:39:00.007-04:00

Barry R. gave his personal testimony on 04-06-09.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 04-06-09

2009-04-07T16:35:00.004-04:00

Another delayed “Recap”, sorry.
There were a lot of new faces at CR last night although we seemed to be missing a lot of our regulars. Please pray for them both, the newcomers and our absent regulars. Philippians 1:6 tells us “…that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion…” so we can know that He will answer these prayers and He will complete the work He has started!
We had 68 last night including 3 children. Barry R. gave his testimony from his heart and it was very moving.
The food was, as Pastor Clay would say, “Off the Chain”, WOW, what a spread we had! Speaking of Pastor Clay, he joined us for dinner & Large Group and had encouraging words for us on what he saw and heard. We’re glad he joined us and that he enjoyed the experience.

Recap of 03-30-09

2009-03-31T07:16:00.002-04:00

Last night was an awesome evening at CR. Deborah B. delivered lesson 7 titled Moral. She did an excellent job.
We recently had a new men’s 12 step group that started and we have a new woman’s 12 step group starting in a few weeks. These groups are the heartbeat of CR and we’re very excited about what God will do in these groups. These will be our second round of 12 step groups with both the men and the women. They stay open for new people to join through the first 3 steps and then close at step 4. These groups bring forth tremendous healing through working Biblical principles and working on deepening relationships with Jesus. They also are where we recruit new leaders from. The more people that successfully work through these steps, the more qualified people we’ll have to lead new groups and step up in other leadership roles. Hopefully we will soon be to the point that when a group closes we will be able to open a new one around the same time.
We had 59 people last night including 4 children. The children and a few adults only joined us for our meal and praise songs but we were glad to have them for the time that we did!
We have a group going to Greenville, SC for a One Day Training Seminar by the team from Saddleback Church on May 2nd. The tickets will be ordered tomorrow around noon. If anybody reading this wants to go and hasn’t already told John you must contact him before noon tomorrow to make arrangements. If you are interested you can make contact with him by emailing him through our email address listed here on the blog. This will be an awesome trip and a great learning experience. We will also be serving and worshiping Jesus the entire time, we are very excited about it!

Recap of 03-23-09

2009-03-24T12:01:00.003-04:00

There was a lot of energy at CR last night. The band added “Grace like Rain” to their growing song list. John M. delivered Lesson 6 titled Action. And at least two people took the action to accept Jesus as their Savior. We had 70 people including 9 children.

Testimony by George B. (video)

2009-03-17T16:47:00.010-04:00

We had a guest speaker George B. on 03-16-09. George gave his personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 03-16-09

2009-03-17T08:22:00.002-04:00

CR last night was another God honoring evening. We had special guest and friend George B. who shared his personal testimony with us. George is a CR Ministry Leader from Virginia who we first met last summer when he and his wife found us while on vacation. They come to our area often and were here this past weekend. They stuck around long enough to join us again last night and promised they’d be back!
We had 60 people including 3 children last night.

T.E.A.M. Celebration (video)

2009-03-11T12:49:00.004-04:00

We just recently completed putting our full T.E.A.M. together. We have been in prayer about the right people to fill the open slots and God showed us the people that were already filling these slots. We just made it official! We are very much excited seeing all the work God is doing all around us, this short video is just meant to show a celebration of that.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Testimony by Rand A. (video)

2009-03-11T10:24:00.005-04:00

We had a guest speaker Rand A. on 03-09-09. Rand gave his personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 03-09-09

2009-03-10T16:31:00.001-04:00

We had a great time at CR last night. We had 63 people including one child. Rand A. gave a very heartfelt testimony even though he was a little under the weather. We also celebrated the official completion of our T.E.A.M. coming together. We will have two separate videos on our blog by tomorrow from last night’s events. We’re excited as we continue moving forward with the work God has called us to do. There are a lot of potential leaders and a lot of volunteers stepping up to get involved which helps us spread the load around and helps them to stay connected. God is so good, all the time. Amen!

Recap of 03-02-09

2009-03-03T07:55:00.005-05:00

Greetings Friends,

Last night Cathy H. did a very good job bringing us Lesson 5 Turn. You can view it here by tomorrow morning, maybe sooner.
Word was a lot of our regular attendees were home sick last night, this is one way this blog can be used, it’s not a replacement for being with us in person but it is a way people that couldn’t be there can still catch the lesson or testimony. Another way it can be a great tool is if someone you know that is curious about CR but not sure what it’s all about, this can give them a sample of it in the privacy & comfort of their own home. Then when their ready they can come join us in person or a CR near them if they live somewhere else.
Last night we had 65 people including 3 children.
Don’t forget about we are having our monthly leadership meeting/training this Saturday at the church office. We will have our business meeting from 9-10 and our training from 10-12. Anybody interested in coming is more than welcome to join us for either or both parts. This will be at the church office on 2nd Avenue North.
We hope all of you have a great week!

Testimony by Pastor Jim (video)

2009-02-24T20:03:00.009-05:00

Pastor Jim Evans was our speaker who gave his personal testimony on 02-23-09. Please forgive the audio quality, our soundboard was down. We used the microphone on the camera to pick up the speakers from the stage.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 02-23-09

2009-02-24T07:02:00.004-05:00

Greetings Friends,

Last night at CR we were blessed to have as our speaker one of our very own pastors, Pastor Jim Evans. He shared about his own past and how Jesus began a work in him around 35 years ago. He spoke of trained fleas, drug addiction & the saving grace of Jesus Christ, our true higher power. Pastor Jim engaged the crowd and had hands being raised all over the place; he said the CR crowd was very honest. Hey, we know we have issues! Pastor Jim did an alter call that was very moving and had an awesome response. God’s presence was intense.
There were 83 people at CR last night including 9 children. This is our largest crowd yet other than the Grand Launch! Several people were there on the referral of other local churches that our leaders have been spreading the word to. We are really feeling a sense of community as a result. We truly serve an amazing, awesome God.
By the way, God got done what our soundboard couldn’t, He filled the gap and our “unplugged” worship band led us in some good old fashioned, God honoring praise music. No matter what fails around us, He never fails us, Amen!
You can see Pastor Jim’s testimony right here by tomorrow morning, maybe sooner.

God Bless,

Recap of 02-16-09

2009-02-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

Greetings Friends,

Last night was another awesome evening at Celebrate Recovery. Lonny B. delivered Lesson 4 on Sanity. This lesson was full of sound Biblical principles that we should all apply to our daily lives. It will be on our blog later today (tomorrow morning at the latest). We had 70 people in attendance.
This was our second week with our childcare in action. We had 7 young children, a 17 year old helper and 3 adult volunteers! God is so good, when we step out and do our part; He always does His part, amen!
Thank you to every one of you that steps out to help make Celebrate Recovery happen at Barefoot Church. Please always keep this ministry in your prayers, that we may continue to evolve, continue to reach hurting people that have hurts, habits and hang-ups and that God would continue to equip us with qualified leaders to gets His work done.

God Bless,

Six Week Challenge Testimonies (video)

2009-02-10T14:40:00.012-05:00

Let’s start by giving the proper credit. None of this would be possible if Jesus wasn’t right in the middle of it all! Thank you Jesus. We (Barefoot Church Celebrate Recovery) got the whole Six Week Challenge thing from our friends and family at Beach Church Celebrate Recovery, even the idea for video we show at the beginning. Thank you Beach Church CR for all your love and support.
We did purchase our own copy of that video from SermonSpice.com which is called “All Things New”. The first two and a half minutes of this thirty five minute video is that video. The reason we added it at the beginning of this video is that we always show “All Things New” right before we talk about “The Six Week Challenge” and this challenge is what these testimonies came out of so it’s all relevant.

These mini testimonies speak of how Celebrate Recovery has impacted and changed lives in the most positive way. We hope and pray that you will be able to sense this change through this video. We did this special evening on 02-09-09 as a one time replacement for a regular testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Recap of 02-09-09

2009-02-10T08:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,

We sure could feel the presence of God last night at Barefoot Church Celebrate Recovery. There were 81 people at CR last night and at least 2 people accepted Jesus as their Savior! We had 2 visiting pastors with us that are planning to start Celebrate Recovery at their churches. We had our first wave of people who took and completed the Six Week Challenge and several of them gave a few words about that experience. Every one of them agreed to let us put that video footage on our blog; it should be up by this evening or tomorrow morning at the latest.
We also had our childcare program last night for the first time. We had 4 wonderful children that all really enjoyed the experience. Just a side note on this though to all of us, especially to our leaders and our parents, we must end our small groups on time and you have to get your children picked up immediately after. Because we meet on Monday nights and all of these children have to be in school Tuesday morning this is very, very important. Also remember that our wonderful leaders and volunteers that have and will step up to take care of our beautiful children also have children of their own and we must respect their time. Last night was our first time so we have to give a little grace for not doing so good at getting this last part done in a timely fashion but we will from now on, we have to. Thanks in advance to everybody for being mindful of this and for doing your part.

God Bless,

We now have childcare!

2009-02-09T15:35:00.005-05:00

Starting tonight! Here’s the official word as we got it:

Barefoot Church Celebrate Recovery provides a safe place for kids Pre-K to 8th grade. As we progress to grow the Celebrate Recovery ministry, our desire is to eventually open up our child care to cover all ages. Please check back often to see the updates as this ministry grows. For more information on the child care, please contact us in person on Monday nights or email us! (BarefootChurchCR@gmail.com)

Atlantic Beach

2009-02-01T12:34:00.006-05:00

Next Saturday afternoon, February 7th we will be in Atlantic Beach along with other volunteers from our church & people from North Strand Helping Hand from 3-5. We will be ministering, serving, feeding, volunteering and doing whatever we can do to help whoever shows up. We will do this in the name of Jesus for the glory of Jesus that maybe one person may come to know Jesus. Please come out and join us! For more info you can contact Barefoot Church at 843-280-1270, North Strand Helping Hand at 843-399-0862 or email us.

Recap of 01-26-09

2009-01-28T22:29:00.003-05:00

This past Monday night we had another very spiritual night at CR. Our guest speaker that gave their personal testimony did not want to be filmed which we would have been hard pressed to get done anyway as we were technically shorthanded. The testimony and alter call were very moving and God’s presence was once again felt. A big high five to little Ronnie for stepping up and handling the technical stuff, to Barry and all our leaders for all they do and to our guest speaker for giving their self & their time.
Thank you Lord Jesus for the work You are doing in us and for allowing us to see and be involved in Your work with others. Our God is an Awesome God!

Testimony by Gareth B. (video)

2009-01-21T07:21:00.007-05:00

We had a guest speaker Gareth B. on 01-12-09. Gareth gave his personal testimony.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)

Meet some of the BCCR family (video)

2009-01-18T12:14:00.013-05:00

This video was shown at the beginning of our Grand Launch on 01-05-09 to introduce us to our first time visitors from our church and our community.

(All images used were created by and are owned by Celebrate Recovery of Saddleback Church. As an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministry we use them only to promote Celebrate Recovery and the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)