Celebrate Recovery at Grace Church

09/07/2026

09/07/2026

🛍️ **DID YOU KNOW MATERIALISM CAN BE A HANG-UP?**

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying nice things.

A comfortable home. New clothes. A new car. Vacations. Jewelry. Technology. Decorating our homes. Even a little shopping just because we enjoy it.

**Things themselves aren’t the problem.**

The question is: **What place do those things have in our hearts?**

Materialism can quietly become a hang-up when we begin looking to possessions to give us something they were never designed to provide.

We tell ourselves:

🛍️ *“I’ll feel better if I buy this.”*
🏡 *“I’ll finally be happy when I have that.”*
💳 *“I deserve it—I’ve had a hard week.”*
👗 *“If I looked better or had nicer things, I’d feel better about myself.”*
📦 *“Just one more thing…”*

And for a little while, maybe it works.

There's excitement when the package arrives. There's satisfaction when we get something new.

But eventually the feeling fades.

And we're searching for the **next thing**.

Materialism can:

💰 **Keep us from contentment** because there's always something more to want.

🔒 **Bind our hearts to things that can't satisfy** the deeper needs within us.

🧠 **Distract us from what truly matters**—our relationship with God, our families, our recovery, our relationships and our purpose.

⛓️ **Keep us chasing temporary satisfaction** instead of experiencing lasting freedom.

Jesus gave us an important reminder:

📖 **“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” — Matthew 6:21**

At **Celebrate Recovery**, we learn to look honestly at the things we use to fill empty places.

For one person it might be alcohol.

For another, food.

For another, relationships.

For another, work.

And for someone else, it may be **shopping, spending, possessions, status, or always needing more.**

Recovery isn't about getting rid of everything we own.

It's about asking:

**“Do I own my possessions—or have my possessions started owning me?”**

God offers something no purchase can provide.

✝️ Identity that doesn't depend on what we own.
🧡 Worth that doesn't come from a price tag.
🌱 Contentment that doesn't require something new.
🙏 Peace that can't be delivered in a box.
🕊️ Freedom that doesn't appear on a credit-card statement.

**True freedom is found in Christ, not things.**

Maybe it's time to stop asking, *“What else do I need?”* and begin asking:

**“God, what am I really searching for?”**

🧡 **LET GO OF MORE TO GAIN MORE.**

Whatever your hurt, habit, or hang-up may be, **you are welcome at Celebrate Recovery.**

09/05/2026

Celebrate Recovery at Grace Church – Central Campus

Monday, September 7, 2026

📍 Grace Church – Central Campus
2415 Grand Ave.
Fort Myers, FL 33901

🍽️ Free Dinner: 6:00 PM

🎶 Large Group: 6:45 PM
Join us for an uplifting evening of praise and worship, followed by inspiring mini testimonies.

💬 Small Groups: 8:00 PM

Available Groups:

* Men’s Group
* Mixed Group
* Women’s Chemical Dependency
* Women’s Codependency
* Co***ne Anonymous

👶 Free Childcare Provided

No matter what you’re facing, Celebrate Recovery is a safe place to find hope, healing, and freedom from life’s hurts, habits, and hang-ups.

Everyone is welcome—come just as you are. We can’t wait to meet you!

09/05/2026

🔄 **IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO TURN AROUND.**

Have you ever looked at your life and thought…

**“I’ve gone too far.”**
**“I’ve made too many mistakes.”**
**“I should have changed years ago.”**
**“At this point, what difference would it make?”**

Here’s the good news:

**As long as God is still writing your story, it is not too late for a new direction.** ✝️

Maybe you’ve spent years struggling with the same hurt, habit, or hang-up. Maybe you’ve tried to change before and found yourself right back where you started.

Maybe you’re carrying regret over choices you made 5, 10, 20—or even 40 years ago.

**Your past may explain where you’ve been, but it does not have to determine where you’re going.**

Jesus doesn’t stand at the end of the road saying, *“You should have known better.”*

He calls us toward Him.

🧡 Come as you are.
🧡 Bring the broken pieces.
🧡 Bring the mistakes.
🧡 Bring the questions.
🧡 Bring the things you’re ashamed to talk about.
🧡 Bring the hurt you thought you would have gotten over by now.

And then take the next step.

Recovery isn’t about becoming perfect overnight. Sometimes recovery begins with simply realizing:

**“I don’t want to keep going this way anymore.”**

That’s when we turn around.

📖 **“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” — Acts 3:19**

At **Celebrate Recovery**, you’ll find people who have made some U-turns of their own.

People recovering from addiction, anger, grief, codependency, resentment, fear, broken relationships, abuse, shame, control, po*******hy, people-pleasing, anxiety, unforgiveness, and so many other hurts, habits, and hang-ups.

Nobody arrives because they have it all together.

**We come because we know we don’t.**

So whether you’re 18 or 80, whether this is your first attempt at recovery or your fiftieth…

🚧 **IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO TURN AROUND.**

**Come as you are. Bring a friend. And keep coming back.**

Jesus is still in the business of changing lives. 🧡

09/03/2026

🧡 **NOT EVERY HURT LEAVES A VISIBLE SCAR.**

Some wounds can’t be seen from the outside.

You can get up every morning.
Go to work.
Take care of your family.
Go to church.
Smile.
Laugh.
Tell everyone you’re “fine”...

…and still be carrying pain that no one else can see.

Maybe it’s the pain of:

💔 Rejection or abandonment
💔 Divorce or a broken relationship
💔 Estrangement from someone you love
💔 Grief and loss
💔 Betrayal
💔 Childhood wounds
💔 Loneliness
💔 Words spoken years ago that still echo today
💔 Disappointment over how life turned out
💔 Forgiving someone while still healing from what happened

Sometimes we've carried our pain for so long that we've learned how to function around it.

But **functioning isn't always the same as healing.**

At **Celebrate Recovery**, you don't need a visible scar—and you don't need an addiction—to have a reason to walk through the doors.

Celebrate Recovery is for **hurts, habits, and hang-ups.**

And sometimes the *hurt* is where recovery begins.

Jesus sees the wound nobody else sees. He knows the nights you've cried, the questions you've asked, the prayers you've whispered, and the things you've carried quietly.

📖 **“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” — Psalm 147:3**

You don't have to prove that your pain is painful enough.

You don't have to compare your story to anyone else's.

And you don't have to keep pretending you're okay when you're not.

Healing can begin with three simple words:

**“I need help.”**

There is no shame in saying them.

There is courage in saying them.

And there is a community ready to walk beside you when you do. 🧡

**Your scars may not be visible, but your hurt matters.
Your story matters.
And your healing matters.**

✝️ **Celebrate Recovery**
**Real Hope. Real Freedom. Real Change.**

09/01/2026

😏 **“I WAS JUST KIDDING!”**

Have you ever used those words after saying something that… maybe wasn't really a joke?

**Did you know sarcasm can become a hang-up?**

Sarcasm can be funny, and not every sarcastic comment is harmful. But sometimes sarcasm becomes something more. It can become a way to say what we're really feeling without having to admit we're hurt, angry, disappointed, insecure, or afraid.

We laugh it off.

**“Relax, I was only joking.”**

But underneath the joke there may be a wound we haven't dealt with—or our words may be creating wounds in someone else.

Sarcasm can become a hang-up when we use it to:

💔 **Hide hurt behind humor.**
🗣️ **Say painful things we wouldn't say directly.**
🧱 **Keep people at a distance instead of being vulnerable.**
😏 **Avoid honest conversations about how we really feel.**
❤️‍🩹 **Protect ourselves from being hurt again.**

Recovery asks us to look beyond our words and examine our hearts.

**What am I really trying to say?**

**What am I afraid to say honestly?**

**Am I using humor to connect with people—or to keep them from getting too close?**

Sometimes healing begins when **“I'm just kidding”** becomes:

**“Actually, that hurt me.”**

**“I'm angry about what happened.”**

**“I'm afraid.”**

**“I need help.”**

**“I'm sorry. What I said hurt you.”**

That's vulnerability—and vulnerability opens the door to authentic relationships and real healing.

📖 **“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt.” — Colossians 4:6**

At **Celebrate Recovery**, we aren't just recovering from addictions. We bring our **hurts, habits, and hang-ups** to Jesus—including the behaviors we've developed to protect ourselves.

God already knows what's underneath the joke.

Maybe it's time to let Him heal it. 🧡

**Trade the mask for honesty.
Trade the walls for connection.
Trade sarcasm that wounds for words filled with grace.**

There is **real hope, real freedom, and real change** in Jesus.

And yes—even if sarcasm is your hang-up...

**YOU ARE WELCOME HERE.** 🧡

08/31/2026

🧡 **FORGIVENESS — LET IT GO. LET GOD.** 🧡

Some wounds are hard to release.

Maybe someone betrayed you. Maybe you were rejected, abandoned, lied to, mistreated, or deeply disappointed. Maybe the person who hurt you never apologized—or doesn't even believe they did anything wrong.

So what does forgiveness look like when the hurt is real?

This Wednesday at **Celebrate Recovery at Grace Church – Fort Myers Shores Campus**, **Ken F.** will be sharing a lesson on **FORGIVENESS**.

Forgiveness does **not** mean what happened was okay. It doesn't mean forgetting what happened, pretending it didn't hurt, immediately restoring trust, or removing healthy boundaries.

Forgiveness is about allowing **God to free our hearts from the burden of carrying the offense.**

Sometimes we think holding onto resentment makes the other person pay for what they did. But often, we're the ones who continue paying the price.

Jesus offers another way.

📖 **“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” — Ephesians 4:32**

Maybe there's a name that immediately comes to mind when you hear the word *forgiveness.*

Maybe that person is even **you**.

Come hear what God's Word teaches us about forgiveness and discover how surrendering our hurts can become an important step toward freedom.

🍽️ **FREE DINNER — 6:00 PM**
🙌 **LARGE GROUP — 6:30 PM**
🤝 **SMALL GROUPS — 7:30 PM**
👧🧒 **CHILDCARE AVAILABLE**

📍 **Grace Church – Fort Myers Shores Campus**
**14036 Mantanzas Rd.**
**Fort Myers Shores, FL 33917**

No matter what your **hurt, habit, or hang-up** may be, there is a seat for you.

Come as you are. Bring a friend. Have dinner with us. 🧡

**You are welcome here.**

✝️ **Celebrate Recovery**
**Real Hope. Real Freedom. Real Change.**

08/30/2026

💜 Celebrate Recovery – Overdose Awareness Night 💜

Join us on Monday, October 31, 2026, at Celebrate Recovery – Grace Church Central Campus as we come together for a special Overdose Awareness Night filled with hope, healing, and community.

📍 Grace Church Central Campus
2415 Grand Ave.
Fort Myers, FL 33901

Schedule:
🍽️ 6:00 PM – Dinner
Enjoy baked chicken, vegetables, salad, and dessert.

🎶 6:45 PM – Large Group
Praise & Worship followed by our special Overdose Awareness Night presentation.

💬 8:00 PM – Open Share Small Groups

* Men’s Mixed Group
* Women’s Chemical Dependency
* Women’s Codependency
* Co***ne Anonymous (CA)

👶 Free childcare is provided.

Celebrate Recovery is a safe place where you can find freedom and healing from life’s hurts, habits, and hang-ups. Whether you’re struggling, supporting someone you love, or simply looking for hope and community, you are welcome here—just as you are.

Everyone is welcome. We hope to see you Monday night!

08/30/2026

🧡 **DID YOU KNOW SELF-SABOTAGE CAN BE A HANG-UP?**

Sometimes the biggest thing standing between us and the life God is leading us toward isn't another person or our circumstances.

Sometimes… **it's us.**

Self-sabotage can happen when we've lived with dysfunction, disappointment, rejection, chaos, or unhealthy patterns for so long that they begin to feel **normal**.

Then something good comes along—a healthy relationship, an opportunity, peace, stability, recovery—and instead of embracing it, we find ourselves pulling away.

We may:

🔒 **Sabotage good things** because dysfunction feels more familiar than freedom.

⛓️ **Limit ourselves** because somewhere along the way we started believing we weren't worthy of something better.

🎭 **Make excuses** because change feels scary and uncomfortable.

🔄 **Repeat old patterns** because we've never dealt with the hurt underneath them.

Sometimes we even pray for God to change our circumstances while continuing to choose the same behaviors that keep us stuck.

Recovery invites us to ask a different question:

**“What if I stopped doing what I've always done?”**

What if I trusted God enough to try something different?

What if I stopped running when things became uncomfortable?

What if I believed that my past doesn't have to become my future?

📖 **“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” — Romans 12:2**

At **Celebrate Recovery**, we learn to recognize the patterns that keep us stuck and begin replacing them with healthier, Christ-centered choices.

And here's something important:

**You're never too old. You've never been stuck too long. And you haven't made too many mistakes for God to begin something new in your life.**

Change may feel uncomfortable.

Freedom may feel unfamiliar.

But unfamiliar doesn't mean impossible. 🧡

**YOU CAN CHOOSE DIFFERENT.
YOU CAN CHOOSE FREEDOM.**

Come discover what recovery can look like when we stop allowing yesterday's patterns to determine tomorrow's possibilities.

**Celebrate Recovery — Find Hope. Experience Freedom. Discover Purpose.**