Glad You Asked - from Innovista
Glad You Asked is an interactive small group resource designed to facilitate discussion of the Christian faith among the spiritually curious. Exploring questions such as ‘How can God allow pain?’ and ‘Do the differences in religions matter?’, Glad You Asked uses short videos, group experiences, and discussion questions to help small groups interact with the Christian faith and discover what they believe.
Glad You Asked creates a safe place for people who are seeking to explore their spiritual questions. Every discussion question was designed with the seeker in mind, resulting in open questions that lead to discovery rather than closed questions that force an answer. All the elements work together to build an authentic community where Christians and seekers can journey together through big spiritual questions, sharing thoughts, revelations, and faith.
Because of the experience and research that went into the development of Glad You Asked*, it is very good at meeting people where they are. It does not presume belief in God or trust in the Bible, engaging people at any point on their spiritual journey. Glad You Asked is an accessible experience for anyone who wants to explore Christianity.
Glad You Asked is also unique in its relationship with the spiritual seeker in the group. Because every person’s spiritual search is unique and deserves respect, seekers determine the pace and order of the course, choosing and exploring the spiritual questions relevant to their search.
In the words of a Glad You Asked group leader:
‘[Glad You Asked] is very good and very skilled at helping people explore what their assumptions are and what their worldview is. People often don’t like to say that one thing is right at the expense of other things being wrong. Glad You Asked helps people explore and find out things for themselves and come to their own conclusions. It helps people see that Christianity stands up to scrutiny… and it presents the person of Jesus in a very clear way.’
Read the *essential review of Glad You Asked.
Glad You Asked uses a combination of experience, discussion and video to engage group members. Each session starts with a group experience that provides an introduction to the question as well as builds community within the group. This is followed by short videos interspersed with questions that guide the group in their discussion, helping people to think deeply about what they’ve heard. The videos feature Christians who are experts in fields relevant to the topic, sharing what they believe and the conclusions they’ve come to.
The sessions included in Glad You Asked are:
Session One—Part One: Does God matter?
This session explores the connection between what we believe and how we live.
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Session One—Part Two: Does God exist?
This session discusses evidence for the existence of God and the implications for our lives.
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Session Two: How can God allow pain?
This session explores the problem of pain and suffering while looking at God’s solution.
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Session Three: Do the differences in religions matter?
In this session, contributors from the five major world religions answer the same questions about their faith.
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Session Four: Can the Bible be trusted?
This session presents evidence for the reliability of the Bible and the impact on our lives.
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Session Five: Why is religion full of hypocrites?
This session explores hypocrisy through a story Jesus told and discusses the difference between being religious and being a Christian.
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Session Six: What was Jesus really like?
This session explores who Jesus was through his interaction with one person he impacted.
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Session Seven: Questions Jesus Asked: ‘Why do you call me good?’
This session looks at the story of Jesus’ encounter with a rich young man, introducing the claim that Jesus made to be God.
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Session Eight: Questions Jesus Asked: ‘Why have you abandoned me?’
This session focuses on Jesus’ death and abandonment for our sin.
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Session Nine: Questions Jesus Asked: ‘Why are you crying?’
This session unveils evidence for the resurrection as well as presenting its implications for us.
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Session Ten: Questions Jesus Asked: ‘Who do you say I am?’
This session discusses the choice that Jesus offers to us and the consequences of our response.
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Please visit www.gladyouasked.org for more information.
Andy Showell-Rogers, Innovista
*Glad You Asked was developed in response to an experience Innovista staff had in a traditional seeker small group. While the members were impacted by the small group community, the material hadn’t dealt with their deep spiritual questions. The group made a list of questions and group continued to meet for discussion. After hours of conversation, a majority of the seekers decided to follow Jesus. Amazed by what happened, Innovista wondered if there were others with unanswered spiritual questions. To find out, a survey was conducted across Europe asking, ‘If you could ask God one question and know you would get an answer, what would you ask?’ People expressed hopes, fears, and deep questions. The top questions became the sessions in Glad You Asked.
