The Deep Dive · every Thursday

Jesus is the key. Every heart has a lock.

Every week we take one powerful sermon or conversation and open it all the way: what was said, word for word, the Scripture underneath it, the places to hold it carefully, and questions for your kitchen table or your small group. Old sermons and new ones, from preachers across the body. Let’s unlock it together.

“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

Luke 24:45

This week · Week 01

The Deep Dive of the week.

Eight sessions in two versions, one for you and one for your group, printable guides, and every quote linked to the moment it was said.

Week 01 · September 23, 2026

Contend in Love

Josh Howerton and Philip Anthony Mitchell on Live Free, opened into eight sessions

“…contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”

“And have mercy on those who doubt…”

Jude 3, 22

Josh Howerton Lead pastor, Lakepointe Church, Dallas
Philip Anthony Mitchell Lead pastor, 2819 Church, Atlanta

An eight-session Bible study on Josh Howerton’s Live Free conversation with Philip Anthony Mitchell: a crack dealer turned preacher, the Word and the Spirit, Jude 3, Islam, the return of Christ, public attack, anxiety, and the mission field under your feet.

For You

One reader, a pen and a quiet chair. Journal prompts, a practice for the week and a prayer to pray.

Open it →Your study PDF · 74 pages

For Your Group

A leader and a room. A 60 to 75 minute plan, the clip or read-aloud, discussion questions and a practice to do together.

Open it →Leader guide PDF · 66 pages

How every study is built

Heard. Tested. Opened.

The Bereans heard Paul himself and still went home and checked. That is the posture of every study here.

Heard

We start with a real sermon or conversation and quote it word for word. Every quote carries a timestamp that opens the video at the moment it was said, so you hear it in the preacher’s own voice.

Tested

Every law, statistic and piece of history is checked against its primary source, and every claim gets a verdict: holds up, needs nuance, or not supported. Scripture is the authority, not the podcast, and not us. Acts 17:11.

III

Opened

The conversation becomes sessions: the passages in full, word studies from the Greek and Hebrew, church history and the real tension. Then two versions. For You has journal prompts, a practice and a prayer. For Your Group has an hour’s plan, questions for the room and a leader guide.

“Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready.”Revelation 19:7

Why we do this

The church is a Bride getting ready for her wedding. The Deep Dive exists to equip the body for that day: to know the Word well enough to test what we hear, to love the people we disagree with, and to bring everyone we can with us into eternal life.

Every heart has a lock on it. Some are locked by shame, some by pride, some by a lie that sounded like a sermon. Jesus is the key to every one. We open one conversation a week and ask him to open us.

Take it to your group. Print it for your kitchen table. Send it to the friend who needs it.

The archive

Every Deep Dive.

A new study every Thursday. Every one stays here, free.

Week 01Contend in LoveJosh Howerton and Philip Anthony Mitchell · Live Free with Josh HowertonSeptember 23, 2026

Who should we open next?

Drop a preacher, a sermon, a conversation.

The pastor you never miss. The podcast episode you sent to five friends. The old sermon that changed you. Every suggestion is read, and the ones the body keeps asking for become Thursday’s study.

The Deep Dive by email

One study, every Thursday.

This week’s study lands in your inbox the minute you join. The next one comes Thursday morning.