Participant Handbook
Dive Deeper
Some resources to help you have Deeper Conversations
Start first
with Prayer
(Pray in your own words, or pray along with us)
Lord, I desire to see your kingdom grow and to be part of the work you are doing in the hearts and minds of people all over Australia. Please give me a deep compassion for my friends and colleagues, and confidence to find ways to connect and deepen my relationship with them. As I live out my faith at play and at work, use me to make Jesus clearly known to those around me so that you would be honoured and glorified. AMEN
What is a
Deeper Conversation?
For this campaign, deeper conversations are ones where we take the opportunity to build more open and meaningful relationships with others where mutual sharing becomes more natural and welcome. They are conversations where we listen to what someone else believes is important in life or about how they view the world, or where we’ve shared something about our own values and worldview.
If you follow Jesus, deeper conversations will naturally lead you to eventually talk about the difference Jesus has made in your life! But it is okay if you don’t get to unpack everything you believe, or if you don’t explain the full gospel; deeper relationships need to start somewhere, so simply asking questions (and listening to someone’s answers!) are deeper conversations that we are encouraging during this challenge..
Consider this breakdown to move you deeper in conversation
Deeper conversations explore our values and worldviews, diving beyond interests, to try to understand what drives us, what we believe, and the difference those beliefs make to our lives.
*Note: Diagram and concepts are drawn from How to Talk About Jesus Without Being That Guy, by Sam Chan
Interests
Descriptive conversations that focus on things like the weather, what we did on the weekend and what we are watching on TV.
Values
Prescriptive conversations that indicate preferences, ethics, values and beauty. We listen carefully here and say things like:
That’s interesting, can you tell me more?
How did you feel about that?
Worldview
Conversations that indicate our understanding of the world. Here we make statements about what we believe.
What’s real? What’s wrong with the world?
Is there a God? Do you have a faith?
Do you pray? Is there life after death?
A season of hope…
Easter Resources
Easter provides a wonderful opportunity to explore Christianity with your friends and colleagues. We’ve prepared a special resource collection to help make the most of this season.
Take the plunge with
Conversation Starters
If you’re here for quick conversation starters here are some resources to connect quickly, powerfully, and deeply.
God in 60s ( 1 min)
Find quick, compelling breakdowns on all kinds of topics, from housework, timeless themes of fear, forgiveness and love, to pop culture trends. God in 60s gives you the most inspiration in the shortest amount of time, designed to share with enquirers. Here are some of our favourites.
40 Rockets ( 5 mins)
40 Rockets is a resource for Christians. They’re short, digestible tips for conversations with a challenge to reflect and apply what you read. Try some of these rockets to get you going when you need a challenging reminder to get started.
The Watchlist ( 30 mins)
In partnership with Hope Christian radio, the Watchlist is a fun exploration of new films as they hit the cinemas and explored with a Christian lens. Russ Matthews and Laura Bennet work to find a redemptive and biblical understanding of new film using timeless themes we can all get into.
Deeper Questions ( 60 mins)
If you’re having deep discussions about truth, politics, loneliness, technology or even Christianity, Deeper Questions is a tool for thinking through the whole issue or for sharing directly with your friend. Deeper questions aims to directly address an enquiring audience.
Help me grow in
Character and Confidence
These resources focus on your ability to be patient in circumstances, calm when you aren’t sure of the answer and develop confidence to handle yourself in different situations.
The Workplace Witness of Patience (7 mins)
If you know you need to develop patience, it’s good to remember what a powerful witness it is to those around you. God’s amazing patience to us in Christ compels us to grow in patience. If you’re short on time, this article will give you a calming reminder of how to cultivate patience for better conversations.
Read
Be a calm presence (1-2 hrs)
If you have more time to devote to growing in character, this series of devotions will help you renew your calm, and exude it to those around you. In a world that’s anxious, frustrated and impatient, your calm presence can be a blessing that speaks louder than words.
Download
Having Calm Conversations (4 sessions)
If you want to set aside time to really reflect on your listening skills, develop a calm mind in situations that stress you out and see positive conversations modelled, this 4 session course is an excellent way to grow. Use discount code: “DD2025” for free access to this course during the challenge.
Enrol
Help me improve my
Skills and Knowledge
These resources help you gain knowledge in connecting the Bible with the world around you, and grow your skills to have spiritual conversations, share your testimony, invite someone to read the Bible and ultimately share the good news about Jesus.
Share your Story (5 min read)
If you’re pressed for time, let’s start small. Can you share the story of how you became a believer? If you’re not sure, this article draws on the Bible and the wisdom of Dr Sam Chan to help you figure out how to share the good news through your own story.
Read
ENGAGE a HOSTILE WORLD (36 min listen)
If you want to spend more time building cultural engagement skills, this podcast is a chance to develop cultural understanding. Our culture seems hostile to Christianity but developing cultural understanding can help us winsomely engage and bring peace to a hostile world.
Listen
The Word 121 Starter Course (2 hours training)
If you’ve got a few hours, take some time to learn about how to share the Bible with someone. Learn how to Ask and Share with someone who’s ready to meet Jesus in the Bible. Use discount code: “DD2025” for free access to this course during the campaign.
Enrol
Help me see opportunities to
Connect to Community
Your community is the people who you know, or who you want to get to know. These resources help you grow friendships that you have, get more involved in groups where you can build relationships and build a network of support to help you grow in sharing your faith.
Be a Gracious Conversationalist (5 mins)
If you’ve realised you need to connect more, you might not know where to start. This article gives you simple tips to become aware of how you can get better at showing grace in conversations. These tips will help the people around you feel cared for so that you can build better relationships
Read
Go to their things (30 mins)
We’re often told to invite people to church, but a great place to start really connecting with those around you is to go to their things. In this short podcast, Sam Chan explains and illustrates the power of simply going to things our friends invite us to for building deeper connections.
Listen
Talking about Jesus Course (4 Sessions)
If you really want to lean into how to be a good friend, build relationships, social capital and bring a group of people with you, “Talking about Jesus: Personal Evangelism that’s not awkward” is a 4 session course designed for groups. (Use code DD2025 for free access during Dive Deeper)
Enrol your Group
How to answer
Tough Questions
Resources to develop skills in knowing how to answer tough questions.
Thinking About Apologetics
What is apologetics? How should we think about helping people consider Jesus? What is the best approach to answering people’s misconceptions about Christianity? Mark Baddeley from Queensland Theological College tackles these questions and more.
Learn More
The Case for Christ
The film ‘Case For Christ’ released in 2017 is based on the hugely popular novel by Lee Strobel, who puts his analytical mind to an exploration of the Bible. An award-winning journalist and outspoken atheist, Strobel is confronted with the impact of Christianity in his own personal life.
Learn More
Bigger Questions Library
Bigger Questions is a podcast library with hundreds of conversations exploring the bigger questions of life. Each episode a different guest is interviewed on a particular topic or theme. Hear from leading scientists, actors, sports people, politicians, business leaders, and more!
Learn More
Help me with
Support and Accountability
It can be helpful to get some personal support and accountability to help keep you going. We are happy to have a one-one-one consultation, or even connect you into a group to support you in your challenge.
City Bible Forum staff are ready to help you work out what that could look like in your context.
Contact a City Bible Forum Staff Member
More than a three week campaign…
Beyond Dive Deeper
We hope the Dive Deeper campaign helps you to be more intentional about sharing the good news of Jesus and the difference that he has made in your life.
Whilst the campaign is just a few weeks long, City Bible Forum has been journeying with people for over 30 years! We have helped thousands of people introduce their friends and colleagues to Jesus. If you, your group or your church want to continue this journey we’d love to have a chat.
Get in touch
We also offer an EvQ program (like IQ, but for Evangelism), which distils 30 years of evangelism skills and wisdom. Led by Sam Chan, EvQ has programs for beginners through to experts. To thank you for joining the Dive Deeper program, please use the code “DiveDeeperEvQ” on checkout for 25% off on the Everyday Christian program.
Register
Join the WhatsApp Community
Join your local Dive Deeper WhatsApp community to hear from others and be encouraged.
Log Your Conversations