Life with Jesus

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 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