Life with Jesus ebook

Jeff Purswell

Imagine a discipleship resource that chooses just the right topics; roots the reader in key biblical texts; contains explanations that are clear, concise, and doctrinally sound; includes equal doses of reflection and application; is engagingly and accessibly written; and consistently points one to Jesus—all in one book. Tim Chester has provided just that in Life with Jesus. Pastors, small group leaders, and new Christians alike will be grateful for this wise, practical, and immensely useful resource.

Randy Newman

I’m constantly on the lookout for good materials for discipleship. Tim Chester’s Life with Jesus is brilliant and should become a go-to for many who want to help believers (new and seasoned!) grow to maturity. I am particularly grateful that this book emphases the need for connecting to a church and dares to address current challenges like sex, suffering, money, and power.

“Great Christian Life Overview. Brief, but solid.”

A great overview of the Christian life. This course has 4 parts that each contain 3 sections. This breakdown lends itself well to a monthly study. Each week you can cover 1 part and the work is 3 days so as to not overwhelm anyone. Since this is primarily geared towards new Christians or those looking for a refresher, this timeline works quite well. Full Scripture is included for each section, as well as responsive questions, a brief description, and thought-provoking application questions before ending with action points that address head, heart, and hands. There’s also space for notes and an included leader’s guide at the back of the book.

Topics covered include:
Gospel
Grace
Church
Obedience
United
Suffering
Bible
Prayer
Communion
Money
Sex
Witness

Aside from new believers, this would be a great youth course. It could even be used with ages 6-12, but I might skip the section on sex for them. For older youth, I think it’s entirely appropriate.

“What a great set of studies”

This primer by Tim Chester is ideal for one-to-one with new or young believers. It covers all the basics in a most accessible style - good use of story, or Bible study and of questions. I, and my friend, are thoroughly enjoying being challenged by it.

“Great little book packed with truth. Using it in a bible study for women new to the faith”

This book is a great teaching tool for new believers or those who are looking for Christian basics

“A useful resource for those for those wanting to biblically guide newcomers in Christ”

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.

The book consists of four parts and twelve sections:

PART 1: A new life
PART 2: A changed perspective
PART 3: A real connection
PART 4: A compelling lifestyle

Each section begins with a story of a fictional character (Jack or Alyssa’s), a passage of Scripture, a few questions, teachable points from Chester, ‘Action Points’, and a generous amount of room for your notes.

The stories of Jack and Alyssa are conversations between their friends (Tyrone and Molly) about Christianity, and these fictional conversations provide the topic for each section of study.

Toward the back of the book you’ll find a ‘Leader’s Guide’. Here Chester offers some pearls of wisdom regarding how to disciple using this book.

‘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.

I’ll definitely be using this with new Christian and with the youth.

This product was sent to me by @thegoodbookcompanyuk in exchange for an honest review

“Best for New Believers”

In this devotional, Tim Chester covers a variety of topics that are fundamental to the Christian faith, church life, and personal holiness. Each section includes an imaginary anecdote, a Scripture reading and explanation, comprehension questions, and suggested action steps. This is appropriate for individuals to work through by themselves, but the author primarily designed this for people to go through with a friend or in a discipleship group. At the end of the book, Chester includes advice for group leaders, suggesting different ways that they can adapt the material for their group's use and foster meaningful conversations.

"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.

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.

Note: I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Great Course for a Homegroup, Youth Discipleship Group or Individual Use”

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!

This course is great for new Christians and for those who'd like a refresher about what living as a Christian distinctively looks like. There are some great sessions about big topics that we don't often revisit in our Christian lives (e.g. communion, money and witness). I particularly love the case studies offered in each chapter so that the bible passage can be immediately applied to see what it might look like in practice.

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.

We're using them like this for our Youth Group:
1) Read the introductory story together as it gives a scenario that this session will be answering
2) Read the Bible passage together and follow it up with some questions picked from the guide
3) Read the main body of the chapter together
4) Follow this up with a couple of the "Thinking it Through" questions that seem relevant to the group
5) 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.

It's been a great resource to give to our leaders who can either use it 'off the shelf' or pick the bits that work well for their group and add some additional questions. It's also great value for a 12-session course! Would absolutely recommend