Go DIG 2

GOING DEEPER THROUGH ‘GO DIG 2’

Continual discipleship is very important for all of us who want to live a Christ-centered life. Long-term shallowness is a curse that can paralyse a Christian, or a church. Growth is not automatic. Under the “Christ-Centered Life” banner, ‘Go DIG 2’ is the continuing deeper discipleship towards greater maturity. ‘Go DIG 2’ focuses upon our identity in Christ, on our knowing the issues of our lives in Christ, and on our being discipled towards spiritual gifts that greater help us in walking with Jesus.

INTRODUCTION

‘Go DIG’ stands for ‘Go Deeper Into ­God.’ The simple aim of the ‘Go DIG 2’ group is to help Christians to experience an ever-deepening relationship with YHWH in Christ, and to help them to discover, to develop, and to mature, in their lives and experience, which is who they are in Christ and what he wants them to do. Such a continual deepening leads to the group members growing closer together and also to the growing in their knowing of themselves.

The life span of the ‘Go DIG 2’ group is determined by how quickly the course material is progressed through by those who are in the group, but it typically runs for between five and six months when it is meeting on a (more or less) weekly basis. The starting point of each ‘Go DIG 2’ group is always the same very important question as it was for the first Go DIG: “In the physical world in which we live, when children stop growing or healing, all the alarm bells start ringing – why, then, do we accept a church culture in which it is normal for Christians to stay stagnant, neither growing nor healing, and yet there are no alarm bells ringing?”

AIMS OF THE GROUP:

  1. To facilitate growth and healing through the exploration of our growing relationships with YHWH and with each other.
  2. To provide a safe and confidential environment in which vulnerability, growth, and healing, can take place in the power of the Holy Spirit through the exploration and deepening of human and divine relationships.
  3. To build interpersonal relationships within the group for mutual support, healing, encouragement, and upbuilding.

GROUP GUIDELINES

  1. The group has a discipline of confidentiality – that means that what is said in the group (or any sub-group) by anyone remains confidential to the members of that group (or sub-group); though everyone is, of course, always at complete liberty to share their ownstory as they wish.
  2. Listen carefully to other people and to what they are saying (or not saying) and be sensitive to their intonation, to their mood, and especially to their body language.
  3. Always respect other people.
  4. Use humour when and where it is appropriate, but never use humour to embarrass or to humiliate another person.
  5. You are always free to disagree with me or with one another, and you are always free to do so in an appropriate and caring way!

CONTENT AND PRACTICE

Each ‘Go DIG 2’ group is flexible in its progression and is ready to move on through the course material as quickly or slowly as is appropriate for each person within the group and for the group as a whole through:

  1. Teaching that is interactive, interruptible, and that always encourages the response of thoughts, comments, and questions.
  2. Prayer with and for the individuals within the safe environment of the group.
  3. Discovery and development of both spiritual gifts and spiritual callings for each member of the group within the safe environment of the group.
  4. Openness and honesty with one another as we share and journey together in our own experiences of a growing and a healing faith.

The teaching notes are progressively provided to each person as each section of the discipleship course is completed so that, at the end of the course, all persons taking part have collected a complete set of notes. Also, at the end of the course, each person is given an electronic pdf copy of the whole course notes. Subjects explored in ‘Go DIG 2’ include:

  • WHAT IS YHWH LIKE?

Is YHWH hidden and inaccessible? How do we know what YHWH is like? Is YHWH a legalist? Is YHWH limited? Is YHWH only who we think they are?

We look at how Scripture started in Genesis 1, and we think about the creation of humankind as recorded there, and consider what humankind meant to YHWH back then. We look at how the apostle John began his gospel and how Jesus was, for John, YHWH in bodily form.

We explore the pre-eminence of YHWH as seen in Psalm 91. We take a look at ‘the fall’ and see the risk that YHWH took when he created humankind in their image. We consider ‘original sin’ is, and what it is not.

  • NOT RIGHT, SO RIGHT

We look at the consequences of ‘the fall’, and see how humankind’s relationship with their creator faded into a distant memory because there was something not right at the core of humankind. Was the only way to put things right to destroy the creation and everything that lives in it? Could there be a new beginning through the flood?

We look at the unique power of YHWH that is most potent in the context of relationships and we see why Babel was a turning point for the stained humankind.

We discover that the inevitable result of independence is separation, and that separation further widens the gulf between YHWH and their created humankind. Israel longed for a Messiah to come and liberate Israel, but the Messiah they got did not fit with their expectations. Nevertheless, everything that went wrong through the one man Adam would made right through the one man Jesus the Christ.

  • GOOD NEWS? GOOD NEWS!

Is “You are a filthy, rotten sinner and you are going to hell unless you accept Jesus as Saviour” good news? Is that really the gospel? Good news for one person isn’t always good news for another person. Sometimes, one person’s good news can even be someone else’s bad news.

What does ‘The year of YHWH’s Favour’ mean for us today? What is the character of Jesus and how does he grow in relationship with us? I speak personally here about the Jesus I know, and you can see if you recognise him. We look at the incident of Jesus and the paralytic and make a discovery about the tenses that the Greek text used. We consider ‘The Year Of Jubilee’ and what that was, and is.

  • UNVEILING

What does it mean that we can look upon YHWH with unveiled faces? We consider what happened with Moses, Aaron, and the children of Israel. We consider that light reveals blindness, but that it can also cause blindness.

  • PEACE

What is peace? Can we know real peace? How can Jesus be with us always when he is in heaven? What does it mean that Jesus fills all in all?

  • NEW LIFE OLD LIFE

Is heaven where we get to be with YHWH forever? What about the new heaven and the new earth? What will the new earth be like? What does it mean that the kingdom of heaven is already with us? What are the secrets of the kingdom of heaven?

  • MATURITY IS AN UNDIVIDED HEART

Since we cannot see clearly while we are inhabiting mortal flesh, what realities can we grow into that will help us to grow with Jesus? How does YHWH’s wisdom help us to grow into the oneness of Christ Jesus? Can we experience the fulness of the incarnation?

  • VINDICATION, SYMPTOMS AND TAGS

What is vindication? Is vindication good? We look at the vindication of the apostle Peter and, in doing so, look at the symptoms in human beings that may get tagged with names like ‘Asperger Syndrome’ and the like. I speak personally about my own life and growing up. In doing so, I emphasize the essential nature of relationships. This leads me on to personalisation.

  • PERSONALISATION

Can we keep secret the presence of in the incarnate Jesus in our lives? What is the normal Christian life like? What was my first real Christmas like? We look at intimacy, and we explore the pure concept of intimacy. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? What does it mean to ascend the hill of the Lord? To encounter YHWH face to face blows away our shallow concepts of prayer.

  • ABIDING

What does ‘abide’ mean? Jesus spoke from experience, not from opinion or mere knowledge. How does an inner transformation break out into the public sphere? What are the very real dangers of becoming the latest Christian ‘superstar’? Nevertheless, Jesus in me must break out into the public sphere. What YHWH has given needs to be received – and used. Is that the reality of our lives?

  • WHO ARE YOU?

We explored the subject of identity in the first Go DIG, but we must explore it further here. Who is our God? Who am I? Who are you? How much has YHWH done for each of us personally?

  • THE HOUSE OF DAVID

YHWH chose an unknown shepherd boy of no reputation to be the future king of Israel, and, through him, to set an example of true godliness to his people. David the former shepherd boy became king of Israel, and found himself in the position of being able to have anything he wanted and to have everything that he wanted. Was that a good place to be? King David got caught up in adultery, murder, deceit, and much more besides – how could he be a man whose heart was after YHWH?

  • PROVED FIT FOR PURPOSE

What is temptation? What is trial? How did Jesus cope with being a mortal human being whose person had the same weakness as you and I? What does it mean to be human? What does ‘dying to self’ really mean?

  • CHURCH AND THE WORLD: WHAT TIME IS IT?

How does YHWH want to make themselves known in our pluralistic culture in which there is an abundance of religions and spirituality to choose from? What importance should we place on timing? Do we have a sense of YHWH’s timing in our lives?

  • MOTIVATION AND EVANGELISM

What motivates us that we feel we ought to share Jesus with other people? Are we sharing Jesus with people? Or are we only sharing ABOUT Jesus with people? What is ‘mission’? This question was explored in the first Go DIG course, but we must raise it again here. What is the valid reason for our being sent out anywhere? What is the power to be? What is evangelism?

  • EXPLOITATION AND LIBERATION

YHWH hates exploitation in any shape or form. Yet, it is very much a part of most people’s lives – one way or another. YHWH’s face is set against leaders who exploit people, and this is something that church and Christian organisation leaders need to understand very well. Exploitation lays freedom on the sacrificial altar.

  • SPIRITUAL GIFTS

YHWH’s gifts are given by YHWH personally, and we will explore the threefold gifts of the gifts of the Father, the gifts of the Son, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. While all good gifts come from YHWH, it is important to understand that the gifts of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, are not the same as each other. Furthermore, while all good gifts come from YHWH, it is important to understand that the gifts of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, are not all given for the same purpose as each other. We examine each of the gifts carefully, in order to understand the commonality that they share, and release the differences that they have. We see that spiritual gifts are gifts of relationship, they are to be used in relationship, and they are ALWAYS YHWH’s gifts – not ours.

  • GIFTS OF THE FATHER

There is ONE body – not two or more. The word ‘church’ does not refer to any human organisation, it means the living, organic, and integrated, one body of Christ. The gifts of the Father are designed to show the world that the body is one.

  • GIFTS OF THE SON

The gifts of the Son are given specifically for the building up of the body of Christ and to prepare his people for works of service. This is where most of us fit in. A body that is weak and ill-prepared can never be used by YHWH to fulfil his purposes – not in the world and not in the church. Knowing and growing into YHWH’s calling is essential for every Christian if they are to be and to do what YHWH wants them to be and to do.

  • GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are reactive gifts in which the Holy Spirit manifests herself through YHWH’s people in response to their circumstances and in the way and the timing that she chooses. However, this does not mean that everything the Spirit of YHWH does in the world is reactive through YHWH’s people, because the Spirit of YHWH is also at work in the world sovereignly, outside of manifesting herself through Christ’s people to Christ’s own body…

  • WISDOM AND GIFTS

Wisdom determines how a gift is to be used…

Wisdom determines when a gift is to be used…

Wisdom determines where a gift is to be used…

Wisdom determines why a gift is to be used…

Wisdom determines if a gift is to be used…

Wisdom determines your body language…

Wisdom determines your tone of voice…

Wisdom determines whether you touch…

Wisdom determines how you touch…

‘Go DIG 2’ AT YOUR CHURCH?

Get in touch with me through the ‘Contact’ page if you want to enquire about hosting a ‘Go DIG’ group in your church, house group, and so on.

Blessings,

David Broderick