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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Leithart: Jesus "came teaching about the feast of the kingdom, and He came feasting in the kingdom"

In ‘Life With Jesus’, Tim Chester provides a course for new believers who want to know the next step in their journey with Jesus, or for the more mature follower of Christ who simply wants a refresher.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" Life With Jesus’ is a helpful resource, providing a useful Bible study structure to be done one on one or in a small group. Perfect for a new believer, but would have to disagree with the cover when it states that this is for “every Christian” as this is really Christianity 101 and more advanced resources would be useful for those more mature in the Faith. control re: eating helps us with controlling other bodily/spiritual appetites (don't be flabby physically or spiritually); overconsumption robs us of the joy of satisfaction (because we're perpetually satisfied) 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. we need to sketch a biblical theology of food and meals"; food was a matter of obedience from the beginning (it's also dependance on God); we sinned by eating (mistrust); sin distorts our relationship with food

food leads to conversation; at the table, we "shar[e] news, tell stories, and pok[e] fun"; "Values have been imbibed. Guests have been welcomed. People have found a home. Love has blossomed."; families bond by laughing around the table Prostitution . . . is a commercial parody of hospitality. . . . [Jesus] reinterprets what she does as a loving act rather than an erotic act."Chester does a great job of pushing one to dig deep into what a disciple looks like biblically and how to apply that to their own walk and following of Jesus. The Think Through It sections and Action Points provide practical and personal steps to lead one to a deeper relationship with Christ.

expressing appreciation for food can be "an involuntary exclamation of delight"; meals are "embodiment[s] of . . . love" The book concludes with a leader's guide, thus it's able to be used in a solo setting or a group setting. 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. Jesus enjoyed eating and drinking so much that he was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard (Luke 7:34)The guide has plenty of content, so if you're aiming to use it for a homegroup or similar, you might want to start with it as a foundation and then trim it down, but most will find the sessions about the right length for a 45-minute session. It would also work well to go through one or two sessions with a friend over coffee. food isn't just fuel/utility—when we treat it as such, we deny God's gifts of rest, community, gratitude, etc.

I've read several blog posts and articles written by Tim Chester over the years and have typically enjoyed them so I was excited to get a chance to go through his new discipleship study. hospitality can go wrong (when withheld); Americans annually spend billions on dieting ("food gone wrong"; "curing our overconsumption"); "Food is so much more than fuel"eating and drinking are signs of friendship; "In the ministry of Jesus, meals were enacted grace, community, and mission"; meals are "social occasions" and "represent friendship, community, and welcome"; "meals should be an integral and significant part of our shared life" The Son of Man came eating and drinking" (Luke 7:34; statement of method/how)—we usually think of "The Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45) and "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10)—statements of purpose/why