An Aussie-flavoured evangelism course, Introducing God, has been relaunched with new videos and course notes.

Introducing God is the brainchild of Dominic Steele, perhaps best known for founding “Christians in the Media”. It’s over ten years since the first Introducing God was run in a pub in Glebe in Sydney’s inner west. Since then it has been used in hundreds of places across Australia.

“How is version two different, except that I look older?” asks presenter Dominic Steele. “Yes, fashions change. And there are a new set of dramas along with the messages.

“But some things are exactly the same- I am still profoundly committed to the biblical theology setting of Two Ways To Live … (an evangelism outline from the Sydney Anglicans) and placing that in the context of relationships.”

This means that the course tells the “big picture” of the Bible from the fall onwards. Other courses such as Alpha deal with the life of Jesus in the first episode.

“There are a lot of ways you can proclaim Christ, but the simple message of Jesus as Saviour and Lord is hard for people to receive, unless you understand you are a rebel, and that there is an Almighty who you have rebelled against,” says Steele.

Since the course was first used there has been a change in our context. “The rise of atheism and the rise of Islam both require a robust presentation of the gospel’s truth claims,” says Steele. “This has has been a change from ten years ago where postmodernism meant we had to take care in presenting truth claims.”

The rise of interest in issues about sexuality is another societal change since the first series—so the new Introducing God has a session with sexologist Patricia Weerakoon.

Introducing God version 2 retains Dominic Steele’s groundbreaking metaphor for sin—Autonomy. “We declared autonomy” is how the opening episodes describe the fall. The gospel messages come with mini-dramas that set up the storyline.

“This is an extraordinarily high quality production,” says Tony Payne of Matthias Media, who will distribute the DVDs and handbooks for Introducing God.

“There has been a real step forward from the first edition in communicating the unchanging message in a constantly changing culture.

“It’s ideal for the post-biblical culture—the culture that has moved beyond the Bible—so it needs the gospel explained in a big picture way.”

Payne says he will launch Introducing God at the large US-based Together For The Gospel conference later in the year.