I was sitting around last week discussing ways to spread the word about the Celebrate Recovery program at my church when the conversation took an unexpected turn.
We were trying to think of new ways to tell people about the ministry and focus on the fact that it is for anyone who has any “hurt, habit, or hangup” that keeps them from growing in their relationship with God. After all, people don’t recover and then find God. In fact, people can’t find God at all – he is not the one who is missing.
I remarked that the “religious” can really be a bunch of Pharisees when it comes to dealing with people with problems. I had barely even finished the sentence when someone mentioned that another church on the other side of the city had called wanting one of our leadership team to speak to their congregation about Celebrate Recovery and put their minds at ease about it.
They were worried about the kind of people that would be coming into their church.
The church building (the people are the church, after all) is not a refuge from the world – it is a beacon to it. Thankfully, Jesus never worried about the kind of people he was inviting into his home, or we’d still be waiting on his first visit.
rebootreligion 
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