Written by
Beth Farrah, SMT Writer
Bloomfield, Missouri – Celebrate Recovery at Living Water Worship Center (LWWC) in Bloomfield just celebrated their first year anniversary! Although it doesn’t seem like such a long time ago that the church began working hard to make this new program come back to life here in Stoddard County, the members and leaders have already finished the first year within the program and are restarting the material being taught within the next few weeks. The upcoming year will be full of new lessons, testimonies, and people, so be sure not to miss out!
Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-based program that helps you get over your “hurts, hang-ups, and habits”. Although it is similar to a twelve-step-program, the founder of Celebrate Recovery believed that Alcoholics Anonymous was missing something: Jesus Christ. With services and minds centered on the Bible, Celebrate Recovery has a success rate of nearly 85%.
Living Water Worship Center plans to reach out and touch many lives in the local area and they have already handed out nearly 1000 Celebrate Recovery Bibles since they started last October. The leader of this program is Bryan Gentry, a former member of Celebrate Recovery, believes that the program will continue to grow and thrive in our area so that many lives will be touched and changed forever.
“My wife, Tish, and I are Ministry Leaders for Celebrate Recovery at Living Water Worship Center. CR is a Christ centered recovery program that helps people deal with and recover from all kinds of issues that make our lives become unmanageable,” Gentry explains. “Married for 28 years, Tish and I have always felt God's call on our lives to serve together in ministry. We had no idea that I would end up struggling with alcoholism that took our family to a very low place. Knowing God was the answer. He helped me make the decision to turn around. Celebrate Recovery and His Amazing Grace has kept me sober for three and a half years. God has given Tish and I the burden for others to find sobriety and healing for the entire family. With Celebrate Recovery, God will bring victory and healing for life's hurts, hang-ups and habits, including life controlling addictions.”
Living Water Worship Center reaches out helping hands to those lost or in need. With God’s grace and much needed support, many lives will be altered. Even those without “hurts, habits, or hang-ups” are welcomed and are offered a chance to have a closer walk with God. Adults, teens, and children are all welcomed to Wednesday night service because there are programs for each and every one of them.
Services on Wednesday nights beginning at 6:00pm have been going on for the past year, but don’t fret! Beginners 101 Class will be held for the newcomers to explain how Celebrate Recovery works and what it’s all about. The lessons will restart soon, which means that newcomers can just jump on in and not feel behind.
After a large group meeting held in the sanctuary, where Praise and Worship, Chip Time, and a testimony take place, members are welcome to branch off into different small groups. Small group meetings are broken down into chemical dependency and life struggles, each lead by a different staff member of the church. There are six different small groups: two for men, two for women, one for teens (youth group), and one for the younger children (The Celebration Station).
The church recently got the opportunity to host a movie night for a brand new movie called Homerun. The movie is about a baseball player who has many struggles within his life, including dependency on alcohol. Members and non-members of the church are encouraged to come to the movie premiere which will be shown at 6:00pm on Wednesday, October 23nd.
