Jeff Hsiang, the author of this post, is a part of the Midtown Residency Program facilitating our LifeGroups and Recovery ministries. For more information about our leadership, visit our Leadership page.
As part of my time in the Residency, I have the privilege of being a part of our Recovery ministry, as well as leading it. Recovery is a ministry for anyone who's dealing with something that feels unbeatable in life. Having been around the last few years leading and helping out, I am incredibly thankful that Recovery exists in our church family.
Because Recovery is a place:
- for the hurting and the weak
- where people find hope in the gospel
- where people can see there is now no more shame, no more guilt
- where people see that we can be fully known and fully loved and accepted because of the gospel
- where people who feel like they have been drowning their whole life, can now breathe in deeply
- where people start to understand that no matter what we have done and because of what everything Jesus has done, our Heavenly Father now looks at us and declares over us “This is my son, whom I am well pleased.”
More People than Ever
And this cycle we've had more people coming than ever before. When the Recovery cycle started two weeks ago, we had 100 people courageously come and say “I need help, I need Jesus.” It’s a beautiful mess. And also more than ever, most everyone who came to Recovery is in a LifeGroup. And that is a big deal because they can continue to walk with their LifeGroup intimately and deeply even after the Recovery cycle is over. They can continue to lean on one another and encourage each other with the hope that is found in Jesus.
None of us have the perfect Instagram life; none of us can say we have the picture-perfect life where nothing is wrong and everything is exciting. We all have dealt with shame, insecurity, suffering, pain, or guilt at some point in our lives. We all long for to be fully known and fully accepted. Some of us have even defined who we are by our shame or our past.
The Gospel for the Recovering
The beautiful news is that the gospel answers all of it. Not only is our shame and past completely paid for on the cross, but Jesus has given us new names: names like righteous, perfect, and redeemed. I have seen in past Recovery cycles where people begin to see their new identity in the gospel, and from that, lives began to change. Lives heading towards even more brokenness and chaos are now heading towards restoration.
At this cycle of Recovery, I cannot wait to see what Jesus is going to do. We celebrate people coming to Recovery because coming to Recovery is acknowledging we can't do life on our own and that we need to hear about a Savior.