Lesson 24 
Yes 
Principle 8: Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words. 
“Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires.” (Matthew 5:10) 
Step 12: Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs. 
“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1) 
 
Introduction 
Modern technology is something else! Take an old, beat-up Diet Coke can — dirty, dented, holes in it. A few years ago, it would have been thrown in the garbage and deemed useless, of no value. Today it can be recycled, melted down, purified, and made into a new can —shiny and clean —that can be used again. 
We’re going to talk about recycling tonight — recycling your pain by allowing God’s fire and light to shine on it, to melt down your old hurts, habits, and hang-ups so they can be used again in a positive way. They can be recycled to show others how you worked the principles and steps with Jesus’ healing into the solution and how you have come through the darkness of your pain into Christ’s glorious freedom and light. 
Society tells us that pain is useless. In fact, people are coming to believe that people in pain are useless! At Celebrate Recovery, we know that pain has value, as do the people who experience it. So while the world says no, tonight we say yes! 
Yes 
Tonight’s acrostic couldn’t be any more positive! It is the word YES. 
Yield myself to God 
Example is what is important 
Serve others as Jesus Christ did 
The Y is Principle 8 itself: YIELD myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words. 
To truly practice this principle, we must give God the latitude He needs to use us as He sees fit. We do that by presenting everything we have —our time, talents, and treasures —to Him. We hold loosely all that we call our own, recognizing that all of it comes from His hand. When we have yielded to Him, God can use us as His instruments to carry the message to others in word and action. 
Galatians 6:1 –2 (TLB) tells us: “If a Christian is overcome by some sin,... humbly help him back onto the right path, remembering that the next time it might be one of you who is in the wrong. Share each other’s troubles and problems, and so obey our Lord’s command.” 
People take your example far more seriously than they take your advice. 
That leads us to the E in yes: EXAMPLE is what is important! 
Your walk needs to match your talk. We all know that talk is cheap, because the supply always exceeds the demand. 
If you want someone to see what Christ will do for them, let them see what Christ has done for you. 
Here is a question to ask yourself when you get to this principle: Does my lifestyle reflect what I believe? In other words, does it show others the patterns of the world —selfishness, pride, and lust —or does it reflect the love, humility, and service of Jesus Christ? 
“Arouse the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a genuine faith” (1 Timothy 1:5, GNT). 
This year, we have all been blessed by some outstanding and courageous testimonies at Celebrate Recovery. I would like all those who gave their testimonies this year to stand. These people believe in Principle 8! They believe in it enough to share not only in the safety of their small groups but also with the whole recovery family. They believe in Jesus Christ enough to share their lives with others. They stood up here and shared their weaknesses and strengths with others who are suffering from similar pain, hurts, hang-ups, and habits. They gave others a piece of their heart —not a piece of their mind. 
Our goal again for next year is to have two testimonies each month as we work on each step. So, if you have been in recovery for a while and haven’t shared your story as yet, get busy, write it out, and get it to me. We need to hear and you need to share your miracle in the coming year. 
The last letter in yes is S: SERVE others as Jesus Christ did. 
When you have reached Principle 8, you are ready to pick up the “Lord’s towel,” the one with which He washed the disciples’ feet in the upper room the night before He was crucified. 
Jesus said, “And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow: do as I have done to you” (John 13:14 –15, TLB). 
You don’t all have to give your testimonies to three hundred people to do service. All service ranks the same with God. You can say “y-e-s” to Principle 8 in many ways! 
Be an accountability partner. Find someone in your small group who agrees to encourage and support you as you work through the principles. You agree to do the same for that person. You hold one another accountable for working an honest program. 
Be a sponsor. Sponsors are people who have worked the steps. Their job is to guide newcomers on their journey through the steps, to give a gentle nudge when they are procrastinating or to slow them down when they are rushing through a step. Sponsors do so by sharing their personal journey on their road to recovery. 
Become a greeter. Greeters get to Celebrate Recovery at 6:45 p.m. They welcome and provide directions for newcomers. They provide the newcomer with the important first impression of Celebrate Recovery! 
Help with the Solid Rock Cafe. You need to arrive by 6:00 p.m. to help set up. If you can’t get here early, stay a few minutes after to help clean up. You can bake a cake. 
Help with the Bar-B-Que. We’ll be starting in the spring. We need help with set-up, clean-up, and everything in between. 
Invite someone to church. Ask someone from your secular groups or a neighbor, a friend, or a coworker! 

The world is full of two kinds of people —givers and takers. The takers eat well and the givers sleep well. Be a giver. There are many, many more areas to serve! Make suggestions! Get involved! 
Principle 8 comes down to this: Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. 
Make your life a mission, not an intermission! 
Wrap-Up 
The road to recovery leads to service. When you reach Principle 8, the road splits. Some of you will choose to serve at Celebrate Recovery. Others will choose to serve in other areas of the church. The fact is, we need both. 

We need you to share your experiences, strengths, and hopes with newcomers here on Friday nights. You do that as leaders, sponsors, and accountability partners. But the church also needs your service. As you serve outside of Celebrate Recovery, you can share with others and get them into recovery when they are ready to work on their hurts, hang-ups, and habits. 
Every morning, before I get out of bed I pray this Principle 8 prayer: 
Dear Jesus, as it would please You, bring me someone today whom I can serve. Amen. 
Will you pray it this week? 

PrIncIPlE 8 TESTImonY 
My name is Mac, and I am a grateful believer in Jesus Christ who struggles with drug and alcohol addiction. I have lived to see a milestone in my recovery. After twenty-four years in recovery, I’ve finally been sober longer than I was using. 
My childhood was pretty uneventful in terms of abuse. My parents loved me and set good standards to live by. So I can’t look back to blame others for my actions, actions that brought great shame. Today because of Jesus Christ, I don’t have to live in the past anymore. I am free! 
Ironically though, I spent a lifetime searching for freedom in all the wrong things. My dad was in the military, so by the time I was fifteen, I had moved eight times. I learned to blend in and make friends quickly. 
My dad preached wherever he was stationed. So I knew about God, heaven, and hell. I was taught that unless you were a Christian you would go to hell. I remember fear being the motivating factor for being baptized when I was twelve. I appeared to enter a relationship with God, but for all the wrong reasons. Two weeks later at summer camp, I was introduced to marijuana by one of the counselors. I found a group of people who looked like they were having a lot of fun, so I decided, “Who needs to live in fear? These people aren’t worrying about anything!” I became fearless and believed I was invincible, not realizing I had set the pace for eventual destruction. 
My dad retired from the military and went to seminary to become a full-time pastor, so we moved to Louisiana when I was fifteen. I hated the fact that we were moving and I wondered how I would ever find friends who liked doing what I liked to do now. Amazingly within the first week, I found the same people there. I never ran out of drugs, and acceptance was immediate. 
Once we arrived, my parents sent me to church summer camp to straighten me out and that’s where I met Mary. 
mary: My name is Mary. I am a grateful believer in Jesus Christ who struggles with codependency. 
I grew up an elder’s kid. My parents lived out the Deuteronomy verse: “to tie God’s word as symbols around your hands and teach them to your children as you walk by them day after day.” There were always guests at the dinner table in our home. Missionaries from foreign countries stayed with us for recharging, while others flocked to our home seeking wise counsel, Bible study, and to repair wrecked marriages. 
During my childhood, my mother would write Bible verses on three-byfive cards and tape them up all over our bathroom walls. As I would get dressed in the morning, there staring me in the face would be several verses I would read over and over. It just became a habit without me even realizing it. My sister and I would throw our heads under the covers at night and giggle, thinking how silly it was having our mama reciting those verses to us, never realizing the impact they would have on me in years to come. 
I confessed Jesus as Lord of my life when I was twelve years old and was baptized, telling myself I would never sin again! I wanted to please God with all my heart. 
mac: A new school year began; Mary was a senior and I was a junior. Life was great! After a few months of dating, I talked her into having sex, the first time for both of us, by using the manipulative “if you love me” line. Two weeks later, she didn’t start her period, but we thought, No way; surely one time can’t get you pregnant. 
mary: Four months later I finally consulted a doctor and, yes, I was pregnant. No one had been pregnant outside of marriage in our church, so we had a secret. I felt alone and was convinced Mac couldn’t support us. He was only sixteen at the time. 
By the time I was five months pregnant, I decided it was confession time to my dad. During my childhood, my mother had a mental illness. Doctors put her through experimental procedures such as electric shock treatments. She suffered in mental hospitals and was a test subject for drugs that often kept her debilitated. So needless to say, my sweet mother who loved me the best she knew how didn’t notice I had a growing belly. 
I had always been able to talk to my dad, and I knew I couldn’t keep it from him any longer. I walked into the den where my dad was taking a nap. I had snuggled up next to him many times throughout the years on that big old flowered sofa, while he read Bible stories to me and we talked about God’s love. I knelt down next to him, eye to eye, and said softly, “We need to talk, Daddy.” 
I was prepared for him to point his finger and say all kinds of harsh words. 
But tears began streaming down his cheeks as he said he would support and love me always. I told him my plans for moving out of town and giving my baby up for adoption. 
I left home for my secret summer trip. Three months later it was August 17, 1975. That date is significant later in our story. The doctor left me in a tiny room all alone. Labor lasted for twelve hours with no anesthesia and no family. As they rushed me into the delivery room, a nurse shoved a gas mask over my face. I thought they were suffocating me to punish me for what I had done. 
I awoke later in bed sheets soaking wet from perspiration and tears. I experienced emotions that were alien to me. A time that was supposed to be the happiest time of my life was my saddest. I moved to a Christian college out of state. My dad was hoping to get me away from Mac. 
mac: But I followed her there. My parents thought by sending me to a Christian college, they would fix me. Guess what? I found the people who loved to party my first day on campus. In fact, I found the guy who first introduced me to pot six years earlier at church camp. Halfway through the semester, I was kicked out of college after sneaking out of the dorm past curfew to smoke a joint with a friend. Mary and I both went home and married three weeks later. 
Married life was great. We partied all the time. Later we would come to understand it helped us to mask the guilt of giving up our baby. When we had been married three years, we started trying to have another baby. Mary told me she was quitting the partying. I said, “Go ahead, but I’m not.” Even in the midst of my addiction, I set a boundary and decided to quit everything except smoking pot. I convinced myself that marijuana wasn’t so bad. 
As I continued down the road of drug addiction, the conflict began between us. Our two daughters were born during this time. However, we lived separate lives under the same roof while growing further apart. I stayed away from the house as much as possible, working overtime to pay for my drug habit. By this time, meth had become my drug of choice. 
mary: In time, I came to the realization that our marriage was totally unmanageable, and I couldn’t survive without turning my life and hurts over to God. I had to quit trying to be Mac’s Holy Spirit and fix him and instead work on my own shortcomings. I started seeking the pathway to peace while Mac continued to run down the path to destruction. This pattern continued for seven years. 
I held on to the verses I remembered reading as a child on my bathroom wall. In Isaiah 55:11, it says when God’s word is spoken, it does not come back empty but will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which He sent it. 
I would also repeat Isaiah 41:10 to myself the way I remembered my mother quoted it slowly and distinctly. I felt God was speaking to me. 
“Do not fear for I am with you. Do not be afraid for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” 
All those Scriptures I heard as a child were coming back to me, comforting me during the dark and lonely nights. Now I had two secrets I carried. We had a son we would never know and I had an insane husband! I say insane because I didn’t know all the drugs he was doing and their effects. 
So I walked on eggshells to keep peace. I wore my mask to church every Sunday. I just wanted my insides to feel like everyone else looked on the outside, perfect, I thought. 
mac: Amazingly enough, even as a drug addict, there was a line I said I would never cross. The last two years of my addiction I was shooting up ten to twelve times a day. I wore long-sleeve shirts all the time so no one would notice the marks on my arms. I slept only about sixteen hours a week. One Sunday morning, God gave me a great gift at the time and I didn’t even realize it. It was a moment of clarity. 
I was crashed out in the bed, and our four-year-old daughter stood beside the bed and said to her mother, “Why doesn’t Daddy go to church with us anymore?” Mary said, “He’s been working hard. He needs sleep.” Our daughter replied, “If he doesn’t go to church, then I’m not either!” I pretended to be asleep and not hear what she said. 
They left for church and then all of a sudden I felt like I ran into a brick wall. God used a little girl to break my heart. I realized I was killing everybody I claimed to love. It was as if my eyes were opened for the first time seeing the insanity of it all. So I collected all my drugs and paraphernalia and burned them. 
mary: I was crushed realizing our children were being affected. That Sunday the sermon was on confession and how good it is for the soul. I remember the song “It Is Well with My Soul.” The words hung in my throat. I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to just run out of the building. Arriving home, I found Mac sitting in his recliner with tears in his eyes. 
mac: I was raised to believe that men shouldn’t cry or show any weakness. But what I found in those tears that morning was relief like I’d never known. I told Mary all that I had done and that I wanted to start a new life. For the first time, Mary stepped out of her codependency and said, 
mary: “Who are you going to call? I’m tired of keeping secrets.” 
mac: “I told you I’m through with that life. What more do you want?” 
mary: “We need someone to help us. Would you talk to our pastor?” 
mac: Our pastor had been coming to my cabinet shop for years, getting me to build things for him, only to find out later they were things he really didn’t need. He saw something in me that nobody else did. So he came over to pray with us. He said I didn’t have to confess before the church, but I might help someone else if I did. I knew I needed to be held accountable. 
Mary and I responded to an altar call that Sunday night, expecting to be shunned by people. The whole church came down afterward and cried with us. They didn’t know what to do with me —I was their first drug addict — but they loved me and said to keep coming back. 
There was one lady who said I needed to go to AA. I thought she was talking about some kind of car club. She said, “Not triple A, but double A — Alcoholics Anonymous.” 
Mary wanted me to talk to someone at a rehab center the next day. I told her I wasn’t crazy and didn’t need that. I finally agreed to talk but nothing more. After much discussion with the head guy, he asked if I would stay. I 
said, “Okay, I guess I’ll stay. But I’ve got to go home and get my stuff.” 
mary: “That’s okay; your stuff is in the trunk!” 
mac: Our life became a whirlwind with rehab, ninety meetings in ninety days, Bible studies, and making new friends. A whole new life had begun for us. We started Overcomers two years later, which we led for fourteen years. We had approximately twenty to thirty people who came on a regular basis. 
mary: The only other people who knew about our son were my dad, my brother, and his wife. Fast-forward to spring 1988, one month after Mac yielded to God, when God gave us a surprise gift. Our church youth group was going to a rally five hours away and my sister-in-law was one of the chaperones. 
They were assigning groups to stay in homes and by the time they got to my sister-in-law’s group, they had run out of homes. So they were asked if they would mind staying in a town close by. As the suitcases were being loaded into the car of a friendly couple, my sister-in-law asked if they had any children. When the woman said they had a son named Heath, a funny feeling came over my sister-in-law. So she asked his age. Heath’s mother said he was twelve. So my sister-in-law went one step further and asked, “When is his birthday?” Heath’s mother said August 17 — the date our firstborn, Heath, arrived on August 17, 1975! 
At 2:00 a.m. our phone rang. My sister-in-law whispered, “You’ll never imagine where I am.” I said sleepily, “Where?” She replied, “Heath’s bed!” A family at our church has the last name, Heath, so I questioned her, “What are you doing in Mr. Heath’s bed?” She exclaimed, “No, no — Heath, your son!” Mac and I feel God gave us that gift at that time in our lives to reassure us our son was loved and cared for in a Christian home. 
After waiting seven more years, in August 1994 we got the call we always hoped we would get. When Heath was about to turn nineteen, his parents contacted us that he would like to meet us on his birthday. My dad was in charge of videoing the momentous occasion, but as we sat down later to view it, the whole first part of the reunion video was showing the ground. My dad was so excited he forgot he was holding the camera! 
It’s been seventeen years now since we first met Heath. We didn’t get to see Heath’s natural birth, but we were blessed with witnessing his spiritual birth as Mac baptized him! In 2005, Heath’s parents moved to our city and Heath’s mother and my mom became best friends as she took care of my mom after my dad died. We also attend the same church and celebrate holidays together. Our family continues to grow as God has blessed us now with eight grandchildren! 
mac: After leading Overcomers for thirteen years, Mary’s brother “happened” to be at Saddleback Church and told me about a ministry called Celebrate Recovery and said I ought to check it out. So in 2004, we attended the Summit. During the second day I told Mary, “We’re stopping what we’re doing and starting this! Look how many more people we can help —more than just drug addicts and alcoholics, anyone with a hurt, hang-up, or habit!” After 120 days of prayer and preparation, we started Celebrate Recovery at our church on New Year’s Eve 2004! During this preparation time, I learned about Principle 8 and realized that this is exactly what God had in mind for us. 
Principle 8 states: “Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words.” “Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires” (Matthew 5:10). 
This is why we went through all of these trials and then we found out there was more! 
I love watching God’s plan for our life unfold. A few years ago, a pastor of forty years tried to commit suicide. The “Pharisees” in the church finally got to him. And the only way he could get through his week was by doing something he said he would never do —take a drink. That one drink turned into every Monday. He had been drinking the last ten years and nobody knew except his wife. Finally he couldn’t take the hypocrisy of his own life anymore and that’s when he attempted suicide. Along with the bottle, he took a handful of pills. He was moved from pastor to one of “those” people. So I got the call to go visit him. 
I visited him in ICU and even though he was unconscious, I prayed over him and said, “Don’t give up. God still has a plan for you.” Over the next few weeks, I was able to share with him about the hope that God still had for him. He later became a part of our Celebrate Recovery ministry. While at one of our small groups, he shared with me that he had just met our son’s parents at church on Sunday. I said, “Everybody has; they go to church here now!” And he said, “No, no, you don’t understand. Forty years ago when I first became a pastor I performed their marriage ceremony!” Before our son was conceived, God had a plan to use this man to marry the couple that would adopt our son! And then later, allow me to be instrumental in giving him the hope that his relationship could not only be restored, but also that God would continue to use him! God always sees the big picture, and He is always right on time! 
mary: We went from the twenty to thirty people attending our Overcomers’ group, a ministry that was already working, to an average attendance of over 250 every Friday night at Celebrate Recovery. Our children are a part of Celebrate Recovery. They serve in roles of state rep, ministry leader, training coach, open share group leaders, nursery worker, videographer, and youth minister. 
Twenty-four years ago, I prayed God would just keep Mac awake in church. God has truly taken the ashes of our lives and turned them into something beautiful. I believe when God said in Joel 2:25, “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.” 
We can’t keep quiet about what the Lord has done in our lives and in the lives of our Celebrate Recovery Forever Family! If there is restoration for us, there is hope for you too! Don’t give up; put your faith in action by making life’s healing choices. 
mac: Being on the front line of what I believe is THE outreach ministry of the church, we are able to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives of sin in Jesus’ name, and release from darkness the prisoners of hurts, hang-ups, and habits. 
Celebrate Recovery has helped us reach more hurting people to find healing than we could’ve ever imagined. How can we repay the Lord for His goodness! We share the hope we’ve found in Jesus! Today we are making life’s healing choices and that’s Celebrate Recovery! 
Thank you for letting us share.