Life with Jesus: A Discipleship Course for Every Christian (Let the gospel and God's grace shape your attitude to church, Bible reading, prayer, ... or small-groups. Confirmation/baptism)

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Life with Jesus: A Discipleship Course for Every Christian has a somewhat misleading title. It is for “every Christian” in the sense that it isn’t for any particular demographic group, but this is best for new believers who are learning about their faith. People who have already been Christians for years may find this to be a helpful review, but the material focuses on basic concepts that will already be familiar to most Christians. Although there is nothing shallow about the material, it is very basic, and the title and book description could have better reflected the book’s target audience. open your home and look for opportunities to throw a party for various occasions (personal, sporting, seasonal, cultural); "You don't have to give a little sermon—just be attentive to people and open about your faith" Chester's call to use meals as a means to breaking down barriers is a little muddled. On the one hand he notes that, metaphorically, we are all poor, blind, crippled, and lame (p. 79), yet he scolds Christians who gather together as a "cozy support group" rather than in "adventurous mission" (p.82). Surely there's room and need for both. He identifies the traditional category of the elite as the wealthy and self-righteous, but does that necessarily fit in our culture? I don't think our in/out divide is strictly or even mostly a rich/poor divide. "Coolness" is a powerful kind of elitism in our culture, and the self-righteousness of political correctness is potent and hard to see. He was a party animal" [bit of an overstatement, but okay]; "Luke's Gospel is full of stories of Jesus eating with people"

Although the book is called a "course", it's essentially a daily or weekly bible study that walks through what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. A useful resource for those for those wanting to biblically guide newcomers in Christ” (Review written for 'Life with Jesus') Disclaimer, I'm a big fan of Tim Chester's books and came into this looking for the positives, but I'm pretty sure I found plenty!I love the way books like this take seemingly mundane topics (food/eating) and show their theological significance. Books like this are powerfully formative and can reshape people's thinking in significant ways. Leithart's Blessed Are the Hungry is mentioned/cited a lot. Matt Smethurst, Gospel Coalition reviewer and Master of Divinity student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary food isn't just fuel/utility—when we treat it as such, we deny God's gifts of rest, community, gratitude, etc.

Look at the Head, Heart, Hands application as they're a good opportunity to really ground the application for the young people, perhaps using the whiteboard to draw these symbols and then talk about the possibilities for each, or giving them an opportunity to draw/write responses as something more creative.Leithart: Jesus "came teaching about the feast of the kingdom, and He came feasting in the kingdom" This is appropriate for teenagers and adults, and can be a helpful discipleship tool in one-on-one meetings or in a group, but this is for people who are just beginning to learn about their faith, or who may have come out of a very shallow church where they didn't learn fundamental things about Christianity. If someone is looking for a deeper take on the topics this book covers, they are better off looking for another resource, especially if they are trying to deepen discipleship relationships in a group of people who have already professed faith and attended church for long periods of time.