DESCRIPTION

We all dream of a better world—a world of security, plenty and friendship. Christians believe that God promises just such a new world. And the Bible is the story of what God had done and what he will do to keep that promise.

The World We All Want is for people who are interested in discovering the message of the Bible. It is an introduction to the whole Bible story—the story Christians believe to be the story of our world and its future. And as you start to see how wonderful God's story is, you'll also start to see how his story can become yours as well.

You can work through this course on your own, with a friend or as a group. Each participant will ideally have their own handbook which includes diagrams, Bible passages and places to write their own thoughts and ideas.

What makes The World We All Want unique:

• The Bible story: The World We All Want presents the gospel through the Bible story. It presents the biblical worldview that people need if they are to understand the work of Christ. Moreover, retelling the Bible story offers an engaging way of presenting the gospel to people today.
• A community: Often presentations of the gospel are individualistic, focusing on an individual's relationship with God. It then becomes difficult to teach people about the church except in functional terms or terms than contradict the message of grace. The focus of the Bible, however, is on God's plan to create a people who are his people. The World We All Want focuses on the communal nature of gospel in a way that naturally integrates the church into the message of the gospel.
• A point of connection: The course begins by engaging with people's desire for a better world, showing how God promises such a world in the Bible and how Jesus gave us a glimpse of that world. This provides a natural point of contact with people; a common aspiration. It establishes at the beginning of the course a reason why the Bible story is so important. As the course develops, however, it makes it clear that this world cannot be human-centred, it must be God-centred.

The World We All Want has been designed so that it be used one-to-one, in small groups or 'Alpha-style'. It is ideal to use before or after other courses like Christianity Explored and Alpha. The course is already being used with people of different nationalities, different social classes and different ages from Aberdeen in Scotland to Tasmania in Australia.