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)

Product Information

great section on what exactly we are doing when we pray for the food (dependance on God and others, goodness of food, gratitude to God and for community); food points to the goodness of the physical creation Incorporating Bible study, clear explanations, and thought-provoking discussion questions, these sessions can be completed in around an hour and are designed to be used flexibly in different contexts. A couple of it's-not-the-author's-fault notes: The book could have used better editing to help direct the flow of the arguments. The typography was irritating. (Yes, this sounds petty, but noting such things is a professional hazard with me!)

hospitality is worth the "collateral damage" (mess, cost, time); meals are "a microcosm of social reality"

A Discipleship Course for Every Christian

Leithart: Jesus "came teaching about the feast of the kingdom, and He came feasting in the kingdom" Eating is an expression of our dependence" on God and others; "fasting reminds us that we're creature" Includes plenty of material to engage mature Christians as well as new believers, and an emphasis on practical, real-life application to help people follow Jesus in every area of their lives.

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. 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 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 ceremonial washing was so complicated/expensive that the poor were practically excluded (vocabulary is another way to make people feel excluded)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. Prostitution . . . is a commercial parody of hospitality. . . . [Jesus] reinterprets what she does as a loving act rather than an erotic act." 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" 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. 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"

Jesus enjoyed eating and drinking so much that he was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard (Luke 7:34) 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) Matt Smethurst, Gospel Coalition reviewer and Master of Divinity student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary we have a strong sense of forgiveness if we have a strong sense of our own need; otherwise, our help sounds patronizing ("become like me")

Life-changing encounters from John's Gospel

He was a party animal" [bit of an overstatement, but okay]; "Luke's Gospel is full of stories of Jesus eating with people"