The goal of the Gospel is communion with God in Christ by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

1. Communion with God gives GRACE for honest SELF-EXAMINATION.
2. Communion with God helps us KNOW God and God’s WILL.
3. Communion with God gives POWER for constant GROWTH.

AA Step Eleven: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

"Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” - John 4:13-14 NIV

This week's worship gathering looked a little different as we welcomed guests Carl & Alyssa Adkins and invited them to share more about Alyssa's recovery journey and sobriety, what it's like to walk through recovery with your spouse, and how to invite your kids into the process.

We also held some space to walk through Alcoholics Anonymous Step #10: "Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it"

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." - Romans 12:2

Step Six: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Step Seven: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

Celebrate Recovery, Principle 5: Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects.

The Gospel invites us to be active participants in a process of transformation that can only happen by God’s grace and power working in us.

The goal of the Gospel in us is our complete transformation into the likeness of Jesus Christ – now and for eternity.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” - Romans 12:1-2

The Serenity Prayer written by Reinhold Niebuhr: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen.

The Gospel declares that confessing our sins is necessary for our healing, forgiveness, and transformation in Jesus Christ.

“Bland confession is like taking a shower with your clothes on: you avoid the embarrassment of nakedness, but it’s hard to get clean. Often in church groups the only sins that get confessed are vague and respectable — almost virtues...Where the practice of confession is superficial, the experience of grace will be superficial." - John Ortberg, Steps

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." - James 5:16

There is no path to freedom and wholeness outside of vulnerability. Yet, we spend most of our lives choosing to be invulnerable.

What did vulnerability and in-vulnerability look like in the life of King David? Let's dive in together.

"Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.' And you forgave the guilt of my sin." -Psalm 32:5

The Gospel declares we are set free from sin by surrendering our lives to the grace and power of God offered through Jesus Christ.

AA Step Three: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him

"For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God." - Romans 8:13-14

Step Two: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

The Gospel declares that we are rescued, healed and transformed by God’s power in Jesus Christ.

“The Set Aside Prayer": God, Please help me set aside everything I think I know about myself, my sinful idolatry or spiritual workarounds, my spiritual recovery journey, and especially You; So I may have an open mind and a new experience of all these things. Please let me see the truth. Amen.

"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." - Romans 7:15-20