Living with the weight of our past is a specific kind of internal gravity. In the language of recovery, we call it the "human wreckage"—the trail of broken trust, unpaid debts, and emotional scars left in our wake. For many of us, the natural instinct is to hide behind a shield of shame, pride, or embarrassment. We hope the past will stay buried, yet we find ourselves "looking over our shoulder," unable to walk with our heads held high. True freedom is not found in the avoida

The further you go in the 12 Steps, the harder they get. So much of the early work is internal. You've made your moral inventory. You've confessed your shortcomings before God and a trusted person. You've become willing to ask God to remove your character defects. That's all deeply personal, often painful work done mostly in private. But Steps 8 and 9? Now we go public. Step 8: We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. Step 9:

We are often our own most confounding enigmas. We stand in the debris of a familiar catastrophe, possessing a master’s degree in the "what" and "why" of our self-destructive patterns, yet we remain paralyzed in the "how" of changing them. This is the paradox of the recovery journey: we claim to desire a new life, yet we are notoriously skittish about the actual labor of transformation. We cling to our misery because it is a known quantity—a self-destructive comfort zone that

There's a moment in the Gospel of John where Jesus walks up to a man who has been unable to walk for decades, looks him in the eye, and asks what should be the easiest question in the world: "Do you want to get well?" (John 5:6) You'd expect an immediate yes. Instead, the man starts making excuses. He doesn't have anyone to help him into the healing pool. Someone always beats him to it. He talks around the question, never actually answering it. He'd grown so comfortable wit

There's an old saying, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." If you've ever been on an extended hike or backpacking trip, you know the truth of this proverb. Sometimes I enjoy the solitude of a solo hike through Spring Mill State Park. But the best hikes are with family or friends. Those are the memorable moments. Going together turns it from exercise into a life-giving experience. A fast trail run may be good for my body. But a slow hike alo

More than most, the individual struggling with the "baffling malady" of addiction or chronic character defects leads a double life. As described in the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and the psychological insights of John Ortberg, the sufferer becomes a consummate actor. To the outer world, they present a "stage character"—a polished, curated persona designed for applause. Yet, behind the curtain lies a "nightmare" of memories, fears, and inconsistencies that they tr

We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Have you ever been around someone so good, so wholesome, that it made you feel worse about yourself? Maybe someone comes to mind. You feel self-conscious around them, trying your hardest not to cuss or make a crude joke. I promise you, they've got their own stuff. We're all imperfect. We're all human. That's kind of how it was around Jesus sometimes. He had this way of bringing out se

In the architecture of recovery, Step 4 is often described as the "engine" of character transformation. After the internal shifts of admitting powerlessness and surrendering to a Higher Power, the program demands a transition from abstract belief to rigorous, tangible action. Yet, for many, this is where the momentum stalls. We find ourselves standing at the threshold of a "searching and fearless moral inventory," staring into what feels like a dark, cluttered closet of our o

Step Four: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. If you thought the first three steps were challenging, welcome to where it gets real. Steps one through three are about surrender: I can't, He can, I think I'll let Him. But step four? This is where you actually have to do something. When Jesus Called Zacchaeus Down From the Tree Remember Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10)? The tax collector was so short (possibly dealing with dwarfism) that he had to climb a tre

The Runaway Slave and the Debt We Couldn't Pay: A Fresh Look at the Book of Philemon When was the last time you studied the book of Philemon? If you're like most people, probably never. This tiny letter, usually just a page long, often gets skipped over in favor of Paul's weightier writings. But hidden in these verses is one of the most powerful pictures of grace in all of Scripture. The Story Behind the Letter Philemon was a wealthy man living in Colossae (modern-day Turkey)

BEYOND SUNDAY Introduction: The Myth of Absolute Control We are taught to be masters of our own destiny, to fix our problems through sheer willpower. The word "surrender" often feels like weakness—an admission of defeat. In a culture that prizes self-sufficiency, the idea of turning over control to anyone, or anything, can seem irresponsible and a final blow to our pride. But what if this deeply ingrained belief is wrong? In the context of recovery, personal growth, and disci

We're walking through the 12 steps of AA and other recovery programs right now. These steps have been utilized for coming up on 100 years, and there's tremendous validity to them. But here's what I want you to understand: I'm not just talking to addicts or alcoholics. I'm talking to each one of us who has chosen the path of discipleship. Because at the heart of these 12 steps is the message of the gospel. When Nothing Else Works In Mark chapter 5 we meet a woman who was at he

BEYOND SUNDAY Introduction: The Loop We All Get Stuck In We’ve all been there: stuck in a destructive pattern, promising ourselves that this time will be different, only to find ourselves right back where we started. Whether it’s a bad habit, a toxic relationship, or a cycle of negative thinking, we eventually face the humbling reality that sheer willpower isn’t always enough to break free. The 12-Step program is famous as a path for addiction recovery, but its wisdom extends

Exploring the Second Step in Recovery: "We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Walking on Water, Then Sinking Remember Peter's famous moment on the Sea of Galilee? A storm raged, waves battered the disciples' boat, and then Jesus appeared, walking on the water. Peter, bold as ever, called out, "Lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the water." And Jesus said, "Come." Peter climbed out of the boat and actually walked on wa

BEYOND SUNDAY The Misunderstood Path to Recovery Our culture is filled with dramatic stories about addiction recovery. We imagine a single, life-shattering "rock bottom" moment or a heroic battle of pure willpower against overwhelming urges. These narratives, while compelling, often miss the quieter, more profound truths at the heart of lasting change. They paint a picture of recovery as an act of force, a head-on collision with a problem that must be wrestled into submission

As we start this new year, many of you are thinking about resolutions and goals. Maybe last year you resolved to lose 10 pounds and now you're thinking, "Great, only 18 to go." Whatever is on your mind today, I hope you'll join us for this new series on the 12 Steps. Why the 12 Steps? Some of you might be wondering why we're going through the 12 steps from Alcoholics Anonymous and similar recovery programs. "I'm not an addict," you're thinking. "Why do I need this?" Here's th

I'm going to lose ten pounds . I'm going to run a 10k. I'm going to work to earn a promotion. I'm going to go back to school for a higher degree. I'm going to quit drinking / smoking / overeating. I'm going to work out 3 days a week. Sound familiar? There's a story I came across while researching for a new sermon series beginning this January. Three frogs were sitting on a log on the shore of the lake one hot summer day. One frog decides to jump in the lake. How many frogs ar

A few years back, my wife Lindsay and I went to Walmart the day before Christmas Eve. If you've ever been there on that day, you know it's absolute chaos. Lindsay and I are very different shoppers. I'm on a mission, I know exactly what I want, where I'm going, and I'm getting in and out. Lindsay likes to browse, checking out the knickknacks and Pioneer Woman plates, even though we weren't there for any of that. I kept having to remind her of our purpose, why we were there in

from the Christmas Candlelight Service, December 21, 2025 For the past month, we've explored miracle births in Scripture: Abraham and Sarah's Isaac, Manoah's Samson, Hannah's Samuel, and Zechariah and Elizabeth's John the Baptist. Tonight, we arrive at the culmination of them all: Jesus. What's in a Name? Names carry profound meaning. The name we know as "Jesus" comes from the Hebrew Yehoshua, or Joshua, meaning "the Lord delivers." Just as Joshua brought Israel into the prom

Every baby is a miracle, a gift from God. But some stories make it undeniable that God had His hand directly involved. Today, we're looking at one of those stories, a reminder that the same God responsible for all the miracle births in Scripture is still at work in our lives today. What's in a Name? His name was John, which means "God is gracious." Every time someone called his name, they were reminded of the God they served. Every time they yelled at him (because let's be ho