How to Help People Make Life’s Healing Choices
By Rick Warren
As human beings we all deal with life’s hurts, hang-ups and habits. And Jesus, who left heaven to become one of us so he could minister to those needs said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17). We’ve learned that every single person-as a member of the human race-deals with a hurt, hang-up, or habit at some level, in some form. Life’s Healing Choices is a new church-wide study of the eight principles from the Beattitudes. These are the principles Jesus gave us for finding true, godly happiness and healing.
The message of Life’s Healing Choices can be summarized in one word, “recovery!” we all need recovery in some area of our lives because we all have hurts, hang-ups and habits that prevent us from becoming all God wants us to be. But the good news is that Jesus gave us a way to recover from every problem we might face. That’s what the study is all about.
The principles from the Beattitudes are more than just casual suggestions. They are the keys to growing Christ-likeness in our daily lives. They are guides to making godly choices, and they provide a process to develop a balanced life that leads us to true happiness. God has used these principles through the centuries to change and heal lives.
The multiple reinforcements you will receive in Life’s Healing Choices are what will make this experience so special. I discovered a long time ago that just talking about something is not good enough. Sermons will inform but it takes multiple reinforcements to transform. The truth is we all learn in different ways. This journey will help you learn the eight transforming principles through a variety of fresh, experiential encounters. They include:
A time of Worship
Eight small group video lessons taught by Rick Warren
Small group discussion (see guidelines)
Prayer & Fellowship
I hope you will join me as we embark on this journey toward spiritual renewal and recovery through Life’s Healing Choices. Imagine if all of us together went through these healing principles of the Beattitudes. What would that do for your church? What would that do for your community? What would that do for our nation? We could truly have a national recovery. And everybody knows that is what we need right now.