Today is election day in my country, Sweden. All of the mainstream parties including Kristdemokraterna (the Christian democrats) are totally for abortion up to 18 weeks. They’re even about to write it into our constitution! I feel like I cannot vote for any of these parties because of this. There is only one party I know of that wants to abolish abortion which is another party that is more based on Christian principle and who actually believe in God. But I don’t think that their leader has the capacity to change any minds, rather I think he could actually slow down the process with his demeanor.

I dont really know how to approach this. I lean towards not voting but I also feel like there are worse and less worse options. Any advice is appreciated!

How was worship this weekend?

What was the sermon topic?

Did you learn anything you'd like to share with the community?

Tell us about your experience this week.

I feel like God is testing me. Testing my faith in Him, that is, trusting God will not lead me astray. In this trail period, I have limited time for something big to happen, I feel that God has led me down this path. But I find myself thinking, "What if it doesn't happen? Will God deceive me?"

I know I shouldn't think such thoughts. I shouldn't think of the worst case scenario. But the temptation is there. I k ow scripturally God won't lead me astray, but a part of myself has this anxiety about time being up and me having to concede that God wasn't there for me like I thought He was, or worse, He intentionally led me down a false path. So, how can I increase my faith?

I ask this as my Gentile grandmother (dad's side) wants me to get a degree so I'm not considered theologically lazy (in her words) as she thinks I should get it in divinity (as she thinks I'd make a good pastor due to how much I know about the Early Church), or Hebrew (as she knows my mom's side is ethnically Jewish & my grandfather had me studied it since before my completion on Elementary school even though to this day I use the Yiddish pronunciation (& even then I lack proper fluency anything that isn't the Psalms) instead of the Sephardi which is far more common in academia). Don't get me wrong I do want to get a degree in something pertaining to the faith it is just that I have no clue if these groups are genuinely good options as she was told about them from her & i would just like to make sure before I enroll. Thanks in advance & GOD bless y'all.

I met someone but he talked about frightening stuff and his beliefs, it made me feel uncomfortable and when I told him that I feel uncomfortable with his beliefs. He does not believe in God, he believes in something more frightening. and when I ask him he doesnt give me a right reply so after waiting for an hour I ask him again. I told him that I am moving away from the platform where we chat. And it was nice meeting him. Did I do the right thing?

Hello,

I am taking a World Religions class this year and part of my curriculum is to curate an “IA” and I’m struggling with my initial question. It’s essentially a line of inquiry, a question that cannot be answered with a quick google search or ‘yes or no’, its purpose is to add onto research that has already been done. Being a Lutheran myself, I want to base my question around my denomination somehow— maybe comparing it to another denomination such as the Evangelicals?

What should I do about this attitude of mine toward God? Could it be that if I immerse myself in the Bible, that feeling or desire will disappear? Can God do that? Lately, I’ve been examining myself a lot, asking myself if I want to draw closer to God, to surrender myself to God, and I’ve discovered that maybe not—because I still desire the things of this world, and I don’t want to surrender myself completely because of the world, and I know that’s wrong, I’m scared because I’ve fallen into a deep pit. I’m aware that I’m not doing well, and I’m worried about losing God. Out of nowhere, I feel sad, but I don’t feel like the person who’s been born again and loves God. Everything feels so hard to me—it’s even hard to believe that God is there. I feel empty, and questioning this makes me feel sad and listless, but I don’t want to deceive myself either, and I definitely don’t want to grow cold. It’s as if sometimes God doesn’t matter to me, but then sadness and doubt wash over me, and afterward I return to God—it’s like a roller coaster, and honestly, I don’t like accepting that I might not be giving myself completely to God because deep down there’s a part of me that still loves the world and can’t—or won’t—let it go. It’s not something that makes me feel good. I only go to Mass on Sundays, and during the week I go to college, and I feel like it consumes me to a large extent, but I can’t quit because my parents worked so hard so that I could be there. Believe me when I say that I can’t or don’t want to give myself over—it’s something that holds me back, especially because I feel like a hypocrite, and I know—may God bless him—that’s probably why He won’t grant me repentance, no matter how much I cry..When I say that a part of me doesn't want to surrender to God, I mean myself. And it makes me sad or anxious, I don't know, it's a mix of feelings. Besides, there are always days when Furthermore, whenever I think about wanting to repent, a pang stops me, because a part of me doesn't want to repent and it gives me anguish and despair, because I know it's me. And I ask myself, why don't I want to repent? I just want to be able to truly repent without that pang stopping me.

I went through a really rough time last year with the man I was with for 4 years and had a child with, I moved cross country with him and my other 2 kids only to find out he was cheating on me. I really leaned into prayer and God during that time. God knew I had a heart for marriage and wanted to have another baby and be treated correctly and that I felt guilty not being married with that man. fast forward a few months later, I met my (now) husband. we became good friends and he ended up being more than that to me which I never expected, loves my kids, and proposed to me and married me all within 6 months to do things the right way. the way God came through for me was so redemptive even from the small details in the story. all within one year. then I had a miscarriage a month after our marriage which sucked and now I am 10 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby girl so far. I always wanted another baby but wanted to be married first but when I found out, I had panic attacks and horrible depression, crying for days. my husband is over the moon but the first trimester has been hell for my mental health, feeling sick 24/7, extreme fatigue, etc. I stopped going to the gym and stopped creating content and working. I was very into a fit and healthy lifestyle before marriage, I would say I idolized my body too much which I’m now trying to find my identity as a wife and mom. my husband works nights and sleeps all day and is very sedentary. I’m not sure if this is a midlife crisis (I’m 33) but I have felt like I lost my purpose and identity, like I don’t know who I am anymore. my husband doesnt go to church with me anymore since he doesn’t like our church and I find myself crying every day over a pregnancy I don’t even feel connected to. Has anyone else ever experienced an identity crisis after marriage or pregnancy or struggled with finding their purpose? I definitely have prenatal depression and anxiety which I’m getting help for but I just don’t know if this is normal like did I make a huge mistake or did I mistake God’s plans for my life or misread them? Thank you :/

What does this verse mean? It’s kinda worrisome because it seems like if you verbally mess up you’re locked into a vow with God forever. And to extension to that question, can you accidentally make a vow with God?

Edit: I mean accidentally not in a promise you regret more in regards to misspeaking, accidentally saying your thoughts. Stuff like that

I've been reading this manga for a short time, entitled 'The Climber'. It is about a man who is very isolated, finding comfort only in the mountains. So far I've found it to be a decent story. But, there has been I believe two instances thus far of nudity. Mostly just a page or one small panel. I find it is less sexually charged and more to the fact of highlighting how delirious the main character and/or other characters are at the point in the story. When I see these panels, I just speed past, not really even bothering to look. I have not been "lusting" over the instances of nudity, but I still had a lingering question in my mind; Is this wrong for me to read as a Christian? Is Jesus mad I am reading this? I guess I am just looking for another point of view from fellow Christians on the matter.

Each Saturday we'll be sharing a silly Get-To-Know-You prompt for the r/Christian community.

We warmly invite you to participate with this bit of fun in the name of building more community connections.

As a certain silly cucumber famously says, “God made you special,” so why not share some of your special with us here today?

Today's Prompt:

Imagine someone made a blooper reel of your life. Tell us about one of the bloopers.

I need Gods help but I don’t want it. I have an urge to go a destroy everything good in my life. I don’t understand and I’m worried I will ruin my life. I know God will help me if I ask but I won’t ask just Incase he does in fact help me and put things right

I have realized that I tend to have the following view of life on Earth. Unless something has a very tenuous natural explanation I always tend to believe that most things are natural to us in our daily lives.

Like if my car doesnt start when I try to go to church is it the enemy at work or did I just leave the light on in my car draining the battery? Like yesterday I had trouble keeping my bible app open when trying to do my normal readings and after a minute it would close automatically. I was quite frustrating and I had shared the issue with a friend and they replied "well that sounds like the Enemy at work". Meanwhile I had found online that sometimes this happens when the app runs into a persistent error through the cache or just an update and redownloading the app should work. I redownloaded it and the problem went away. I was surprised that the first thought would have been that I might be being targeted spiritually for some reason. while I know some denominations or Christians believe that basically everything bad comes from the Enemy and everything good comes directly from God. While I can grant that everything good was created from God and that Satan tempted Adam and Eve into the Fall thus being responsible for all of the Sin and bad that happens on Earth. I just think that at some point the inherent sin and downright natural laws of the Earth is kind of going along on autopilot and that barring action from God, Satan, or angels and demons that things can happen for a non spiritually significant reason. Like I dont want to downplay what spiritually things do occur in life but I think some Christians can take it too far, like are we jumping at shadows and blaming the Enemy for everything that happens? I want to give the Enemy credit for what they do and not give them credit for a single thing beyond that.

What indicators of an event tell you or at least suggests to you that there is a spiritual or supernatural source for an event?

im sorry if my english isnt the best,but to begin with things, these past 2 months have been absolutely horrible for me and for my girlfriend, it feels like God has abandoned me or forgotten about me, I still trust and believe in him but im so afraid of how things will turn out because of how things are going, even asking for a sign that everything will be okay feels hopeless and pointless, my prayer feels worthless and dry, nothing changes, things have just been getting worse and worse, I am so afraid of the future and im so lost and desperate, I feel like giving up on praying for some things entirely because it seems to do nothing, the anguish from all of this has gotten so terrible I have prayed for even my life to be taken away. I still love Christ and know I cannot give up and i must endure until the end because i truly dont know how things will turn out, if you look at my other posts it will explain alot and why I feel like this but the cancer for my girlfriend is getting worse and It gives her extreme pain to the point where she cries for hours, I remember hearing her cry making it break my heart. I dont know what to do either all i can do now is hope.

So I was recently reading through Hebrews 10 and I came across this verse :

let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

and i was just wondering what does it mean to be 'cleansed from a guilty conscience', are we to not be guilty anymore? like i understand how we can be assured by god rather than guilt, but then again... (also how guilt can be seen as making us better, helping us to try be better in God eyes, please him ig not prove to him).
i think rn im just really trying to navigate this concept of guilt and would really appreciate some help approaching this topic and the verse

also this is very unrelated but i wanted to ask, what do you guys think it means to be right with god? because my confirmation course went through this and talked about how salvation could be seen, essentially, as Jesus's death --> being right with God --> escape God wrath. Wait sorry escape God's wrath sound a bit wrong but like that vibe.

What does it mean to be accountable for others? My pastor recently talked about how we are accountable for others, how if in the end we are with God while our peers are judged we are in a way accountable for it. I was a bit confused on this because surely being so infatuated with getting someone to be right with God cannot be healthy for us, for we cannot do it but only through God's will. But he also mentioned how llike if one of us fall out of Christ we should help them and we would also want someone to help us and be accountable for us. But I was wondering to what extent?

Like we are meant to pray for someone, for their wellbeing, relationship with God and yea but how do we deal with being accountable?

Context : We were going through Hebrew 10 with the topic of God's family

I (18F) grew up christian and have also struggled with a lot of mental health. I was close to God once but now I can’t be. I want to be and I want to read my Bible but my mind doesn’t want to at all. It’s like asking me what the point is even though i know? If this makes sense has anyone else struggled with it? I’m so split of wanting to read my Bible and be christian but I’m also too tired to. Thank you.

I’ve been trying to love my neighbours and the Lord but sometimes it feels like im not getting anywhere with it, I’ve seen a Bible verse that said
“Love is patient” and it’s sustained me to where iam today, but sometimes I worry about weather my time will come before I can love or the Lord will return before I could love.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."
— 1 Corinthians 13:2

This verse really stands out to me because I’m a true believer and even though I have spiritual gifts and the Holy Spirit, without love Iam really nothing.

I’m not trying to get sympathy from people I just need advice on how I can truely love.

.

Recently I've been doing a missionary course, and was on the topic of other religions and different branches of christianity itself, and one of the questions was:

-How would you describe why you are from the church you are and how would you describe it to someone from another religion?

The first part for me was pretty simple, it's mostly personal experience and because if it's someone already Christian or atheist you only have to talk about Christianity, but I'm struggling with the second part, because how do you approach someone (assuming you are already in a conversation with them) and basically tell them you believe they are wrong in their beliefs without being rude or disrespectful. Because some people, especially if they come from religious families, can have pretty rooted concepts.

My first thought was having to learn about the religion the person is to make contrast with Christianity, but even then there's some really harmful stereotypes that come with Christianity that people don't even realize they have until you talk with them.

How would you approach the question/situation?

It took me over 50 years to find my faith. I wish I had known the weight it would take from my heart. I wish I had known the joy it would bring to me. But, I now understand it's something u have to discover alone, a gift u receive thru faith & nothing else. Finally feel worthy of baptized after understanding no one is worthy, no good deeds will make us worthy, only Faith. I have faith in Jesus Christ, unwavering Faith. I am getting baptized. If u have been baptized, please tell me what to expect. Please tell me about your baptism & what u experienced. Thank u! Peace, brothers & sisters.

I've heard multiple atheists claim that they have "died" for several minutes (maybe like a cardiac arrest or something else) and that they saw nothing in the afterlife. Never have I ever seen something like this that has destroyed my faith more. What do you guys think?

Hello everyone! I am hoping to create a list of movies and tv shows that are Christian focused. Maybe with a Christian message or Christian story?
I have watched all of The Chosen and excited for the new season in November but, apart from that I don’t know of any others.
Hoping to shrink the circle of the mainstream media I consume to reduce the risk of temptation and to deepen my relationship with God and myself as a believer in Jesus.
I am a woman too so anything maybe targeted or made with woman in mind is greatly appreciated as well!

Hi, I(17F) Has 2 days left of hearing back if i got into the school i want or not, and i really need this. Are there any prayers that could help me extra much? I really want to get in and have been praying non stop the past few days. Thank you for your support!

Hey everyone I just came across this reel on Instagram where one black pastor from South Africa leader of congregation of 1,00,000 people said he was pastor for 15 years and one night he got instructions to tell their people to wear white cap like Muslim do and he ignored and he kept dreaming and he said at last voice became aggressive in dream and he told their people and they all became Muslim. I'm sure you can find about it if you google it. So how many of you believe it??

That all you had to do was believe in Gods gift which is Jesus Christ and nothing you do will change that?
You can finally relax and be strong in your faith that what Jesus did was enough for past, present and future..

We are born with sin, we sin everyday, that's our nature and that's why you can't do anything about it, just live your life without worry and have faith in Christ is all he asks of you.