Going Deeper by Rev. Christie Bature: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

What Going Deeper Means

The ocean is only enjoyable when you go beyond the beach. At the beach you find scum, filth, and debris — but press into the deeper end, and you see the beauty and clarity of the sea. For any believer to go deeper, we must go beyond obstructions to encounters. And when we have encounters, transformation happens.

2 Peter 1:3-4 — his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him. God does not exaggerate. If he has given all things, the gap between that promise and what we experience is depth. The gap is depth.

Going deeper is:

• Moving from surface Christianity to intimate relationship
• Moving from knowing about God to experiencing God
• Moving from activity to transformation

Many desire depth but remain shallow because unaddressed internal barriers sabotage spiritual hunger.

What Stops Us from Going Deeper

1. Ignorance

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   We don't realize the benefits of going deeper. Joy — living in a joy bubble regardless of circumstances. Fear leaving the life — when turbulence comes, there is no panic because of the settled confidence that for to live is Christ and to die is gain. Either way, a believer wins.

2. Fear of God's Holiness

   Isaiah 6:5 — "Woe is me, for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips." This is the kind of fear the flesh takes on when it comes face to face with God's holiness. There are times when pressing into God causes him to reveal himself and the limitations of flesh become so apparent that the impulse is to run back out. This kind of fear has no remedy — our flesh will never fully contain the presence of God, which is why we will receive new bodies when Jesus comes.

3. Shame and Hidden Guilt

   Shame is one of the most powerful weapons of Satan. Guilt says "I did something wrong." Shame says "something is wrong with me." Shame drives harmful behaviors deeper underground. God asked Adam, "Who told you that you were naked?" — meaning: who is the loudest voice in your head? The voice of your critic? Your abuser?

   If the loudest voice is shame, going deeper will never happen because shame makes a person believe they have to earn the place in God's presence.

4. Identity Crisis

   Who you were is not who you are now. Who you are now is not who you are destined to be. You are on a journey of evolvement — moving from an egg to a caterpillar to a butterfly. Any caterpillar that does not become a butterfly is dead. When others try to keep you defined by your past, refuse it. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and no one knows where it's coming from or going — so are the sons of God. No one can peg your capacities.

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   Rev. Christie Bature

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5. Distractions and Busyness

   Mary and Martha were both doing good things, but there are seasons when good things become a hindrance. Social media, responsibilities, pressure — these can choke the word and keep a person doing for God instead of being with God.

   Matthew 13 — the deceitfulness of riches and the cares of this world choke the word. What are the weights that slow you down when you should be running?

6. Fear of Full Surrender

   Luke 9:23 — if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. The underlying fear is: what will God take from me if I fully surrender?

   But what will he take from you? The life you have — who owns it? He does. You cannot negotiate with the one who gave you life.

7. Bitterness and Unforgiveness

   Bitterness blocks intimacy with God. It turns prayer into performance instead of connection. There is a block, but we keep going through the motions — singing in the choir, leading units — keeping the show going. Prayer and service become performance instead of intimacy.

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   Bitterness changed one woman's personality entirely. Like the prodigal son, she looked at herself one day and said, "This is not me. How did I become this person?" God brought her back to Isaiah 26:3 — thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. Five times God pulled her back to that verse and asked: "What portions of your heart are you reserving for bitterness? Because I cannot keep those parts in peace. Partial peace is no peace."

   Sometimes bitterness is held onto because of the fear that God will not punish the person as severely as desired. But holding bitterness does not influence God's justice — it only destroys the one holding it. After three months of asking God daily to take the darkness from her soul, willing but without capacity, she discovered one day that the weight was simply gone. And from that day she entered into a realm of joy she now lives in permanently.

   How does bitterness show up?

   • Being easily offended
   • Constantly rehearsing past hurts — allowing memories to rule the future
   • Difficulty trusting God because people have hurt you

   You cannot go deeper with God while holding on to what he is asking you to release.

8. Unhealed Trauma

   Trauma is overwhelm plus helplessness. Something is happening and nothing can be done about it. It creates a fear of surrender and a vulnerability that is not healthy. It causes withdrawal from intimacy with both people and God, control tendencies, and emotional numbness.

   Many women are not resistant to God — they are protecting themselves from pain. Jesus's pattern is to go through the wound, not around it. He did not gloss over the Samaritan woman's story, ignore it, abuse her for it, or condemn. He addressed her thirst, then her story, then her identity. The result was worship.

How to Go Deeper

Depth comes when Jesus is allowed into certain spaces.

What have you been carrying that you haven't surrendered? Are you carrying bitterness? Offense? Fear? Trauma? It is not your fault that trauma happened to you — but you have a responsibility to heal from it.

• Release bitterness
• Invite Jesus into painful memories
• Break shame — Jesus had one response to shame: he despised it. For every Christian, your only response to shame is despisement — not letting it break or interfere with you
• Declare openness before God

You cannot go deeper while holding on to what keeps you shallow.