Deeper

I have frequently had to work out when Deeper happened and have to dig through various sources to find out.  So the definitive answer is here:

First there was ‘The River’ which was a monthly Friday night worship event from 2001-2003.  Then Deeper started as a monthly Sunday evening service running 10 months of the year (taking summer off) which ran from 2003-2012.

Opening with a video taking people from the business of everyday life through scripture to rest and calm.  Then JJ led people through a meditation on a bible passage (Luke 8:40-53).

After some worship, some pre-recorded testimonies were shown of people sharing stories of how God had spoken to them or led them in certain situations.

“God doesn’t reveal his will to us for our consideration but for our participation.” Andy Stanley

listen to the talk here

The premise for tonight’s theme of Ungodly Beliefs was that “Things appear to be true based on the facts of our experience but are false based on the word of God”, for example

• there is something wrong with me
• god doesn’t love me
• knowing likes me
• I’m a failure
• I can’t trust anyone

Listen to the full podcast for why these are false beliefs and how to tackle these things!

The format of the meeting was to give people plenty of time to think about these things, write some thoughts and feelings and then try to address these through prayer, meditative worship and receiving prayer ministry from others.

download this month’s handout

As you reflect on this months deeper service, what do you notice rising up in your own heart?  Spend some time with the following questions…ask them as a prayer to God and see if anything stands out to you.  Spend some time resting in the grace of God, which is greater than all of our running, all of our sin, all of our confession.

Where do you find control in your own life? In what ways have you thought, “I would rather be an orphan?”

How have you found yourself at the end of your rope?  In what ways are you afraid to go back to your Father?

What do you know about the character of God that might give you courage to turn back to him?

When in your life have you experienced the Father running to you?  What does this say about who you are in him?

You were given some questions to take away and think about from the last Deeper. Here are a few more to continue your thought process.

1. Read Ezekiel 36
2. What is God saying to the Israelites in this passage? What is the main point of his message?
3. What might God say to the Church (the body of Christ around the world) today, in light of this passage?
4. What might he want to say to St. Silas?
5. How can we be more open to his softening of our hearts together?

1. Do I feel as though I’ve been dwelling in a foreign land? Exiled?
What are the circumstances that have caused this feeling? What does this feel like?
Take some time to talk with God about these circumstances, to tell him how you feel.

2. In what ways is my heart currently hardened to the love of God?

3. Is there some way that God is using my circumstances to soften my heart?
Take some time to ask this question of God, stop and listen to God’s answer to you.

This may be a frustrating time. You may feel resistance to what he speaks, or you may not hear anything at all just now. Keep your eyes and ears open throughout the next week for God to answer these questions in his time.

Last in the theme of Monsters – looking at the inner monsters of Envy, Anger and Greed.  This months meeting was also moved forward a week to make way for the West End Festival event next week.

Before the start of each of these we have been using playlists of related music, someone asked me for a track name, so here is this month’s Greed related tracks: Money (In God We Trust) by Extreme; Material Girl by Madonna; Money by Pink Floyd; If I Had $1000000 by Barenaked Ladies; Gold Digger by Kanye West Feat. Jamie Foxx; Mercedes Benz by Mercedes Benz; and Money (That’s What I Want) by The Beatles.

For a change, after a short welcome from Jenny we started with a worship set of the following songs: Indescribable,   O taste and see,   Amazing grace (my chains are gone).  Then Gordon told a story about a Hamish the Hamster – this is where the mp3 recording starts – this was followed by this video looking at forms of Greed in the media…

Most of the core team that organizes Deeper then gave some examples of Greed in their own life, then asked people to share in groups what they thought their own greed was…

Jenny and Gordon both then taught on the topic of Greed – mp3 recording – then there was an opportunity for ministry and worship (the second set included: The splendour of the king; This is my desire; Jesus we enthrone you; I’m giving you my heart and God in my living. Finishing off with Be Thou My Vision.

There is no Deeper service in July, have a good summer.

The last of our 6 ‘Organic Faith’ series which was designed to help you readdress and renew the aspects of your faith which easily get sidelined.  It was a time to remember why we believe, how our faith grows, what stifles that growth and how to overcome these things.

• Sept: Breaking the ground
• Oct: Putting down Roots
• November: Grow!
• January: Weeds, Thorns & Worship
• February: Feeding & Watering
• March: Future Harvest

It was also one of the most technical series that we did experimenting with many ways of interacting and engaging.  With a month between events we wanted to bridge that gap by keeping in touch via email and blog, we asked you to participate in online surveys and used that to inform the next event and during some meetings we asked you to send us feeback instantly by txt.  Here is some of what went on:

Lastly, for this record, this month the visual team switched to new technology to produce the live visuals during the meeting – usng VJing software instead of the usual DVDs and video mixer – this meant super-widescreen effect onto our custom built full width screen.  While this took longer to setup it gives us more space, layers and flexibilty to mix.  We hope you enjoyed the effect and, as always, that this added to the experince without turning it into ‘a show’.

timelapse of March event

Meanwhile:  Envy, Anger & Greed is what we are looking at in the next short season building up to summer.  More details soon.

This was the fifth in the series of Organic Faith series, Feeding and Watering.

If you are looking for…

• Jenny’s Teaching Notes
• Gordon’s presentation
• MP3 recording
• This Month’s Survey

This was the fourth in the series of Organic Faith series, Weeds, Thorns and Worship

If you have any comments or feedback on this or any element of a Deeper meeting, please leave a comment below.