Hey, I'm asking for prayers and advice for my best friend (20F). She has Autism, Sensory Problems, and Seizures along with depression but that hasn't been as severe. She's been trying to attend our church but her issues keep getting in the way. It's too loud and bright for her all the time. Our church does online streaming of the sermon so she listens to that when she can't come in person. However when she does come in person her sensory problems kick into full effect and this can sometimes lead to small pseudo-seizures. Her Autism also doesn't help as it makes it difficult for her to really learn from scripture and their sermon. When she reads the bible by herself she totally gets it. When quizzed on what she read and the meaning and everything she's got it down. But when others try to explain it her brain completely misinterprets it every single time. She recently had a falling out with her discipler because she couldn't seem to convey the problems and it got pretty bad. She also has a history of bad churches that would call her a demon because of her autism or worthless, you get the idea. I'm really worried for her because it's all affecting her spiritual life. She started bringing sensory equipment like sunglasses and headphones to lower the volume but it only goes so far. She struggles to really understand the sermon and socialize. I'm at a loss as to what I should do. I’ve been praying for months on the matter. What she really seems to enjoy is our college ministry. We meet on wednesday nights and slowly work our way through books of the bible. She really enjoys this and learns quite well with the smaller group. I don't know how to make it “comfortable” for her in a larger group, aka the whole church. I'm going to encourage her to talk to one of the biblical counselors on the issue, maybe the pastor. I'm hoping they can give more advice. I also feel bad because she wants to help serve in the church but because of her seizures, she can't drive herself anywhere. This often prevents her from getting to some events and sometimes church itself as well. What are some ways she could help serve in the church and also some thoughts and prayers on this? Sorry for the long post and I hope I adequately got the message across. I'm happy to answer additional questions and feedback.

She really loves the church and is trying to grow in Christ. She's made a lot of progress over this past year but this roadblock is really annoying.

I'm age "34" I grow up in a Christian home over the years I grow to take in a lot of pain and just deal with it I was only about 7-10 years old and just always wondered why literally why everything there was never a good day but I was always told have faith it's all God's plans. So I thought I stopped believing. Im not a conspiracy terrorist I literally am looking for what's right and what to do. I dk why I wrote this I guess if someone can just pray for me to have clarity and for me to find the way because I'm hurting I feel like I'm cursed and never going to find the path I should be on thank you to anyone that reading this srry if spelling is wrong and may not make sense & what should I say in a prayer I don't want to just pray for me or the wrong things.

Jesus has already given you the victory. It's over; you now have the ultimate victory.

But you may be saying, "wait, I'm still struggling with sin, so I don't have the victory yet". Well, yet is the key word - in the sense that we're talking about the issue of time.

You see, God doesn't exist within time. You probably already knew this, but we humans are so constrained by the idea of time, that it is very, very difficult to think about the idea of time not existing. Except, God exists in such a place - where time does not exist.

"For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy" (Isaiah 57:15).

Eternity exists out of time; because time has a beginning and ending, whereas eternity does not. And since God exists outside of time, he doesn't view our sin within the constraint of time.

So even if you're still stuck within a cycle of sin - and don't see the cycle ever ending - the good news is that it will (if you have genuine faith in Jesus), because Jesus came to end the bondage of sin.

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (Jesus, John 8:36).

This means that you're free right now, at this current state, even if you're still struggling with sin right at this very moment. It's because God operates outside of time, and already sees you being free of said sin. That is, if we choose to walk in that freedom (by believing we are already free).

But that's why the Lord Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Sure, He was talking about the payment for our sins; but also, our freedom from them. So we need to accept that by faith, and walk in our freedom. Why do we need to do this?

Because "...without faith it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6). Notice that the verse doesn't say, "without the stoppage of sin, it is impossible to please God".

Deciding to go and "...sin no more" (John 8:11) is great and what we are asked to do, but even if we ended our sin of lust right now and never did it again, it would still not please The Lord the way that faith pleases Him; after all, as Isaiah 64:6 states: "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags".

It is Jesus who is righteous, not us (we have no righteousness of our own according to the Father). When we will hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 25:23), God will not be referring to us...He'll be referring to Jesus. Our Lord and Savior who gave us the victory on the cross. How humbling is that? In fact, I just heard someone today on YouTube say something along the lines of: "you cannot look at the cross without a sense of humility".

So, going back to our sin - Jesus not only paid for it, He ENDED it. PERIOD. It's over, END OF STORY. Unless, we decide to believe otherwise (that's where the faith part comes in).

Something that God showed me today was to thank Jesus for finishing my sin off for good on the cross; especially the sins that I'm still currently struggling with as of the time I'm writing this post. And the same goes for you; yes, you're still battling sin, but God sees it as over, the victory has been won in Jesus name and thanks to His blood. You might struggle with lust, watching porn, masturbation for years from this point onwards, but the actual struggle with sin is already over; your sin has been conquered. Hence why Romans 8:37 states:

"Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Notice it says "through Him", not through our own efforts. This gives all the glory and credit to Jesus for the victory over our sin (and the end of the sin cycle that we are dealing with), and no glory or credit to us. That may anger some religious spirits who may be reading this, so I pray and rebuke those in Jesus name. After all, Jesus Himself says in John 15:5:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

So, from now on, this very moment, we can choose to thank Jesus in advance for ending our sin cycle and giving us the victory - even if we still struggle with committing this sin for months and years after today. Since we're within the constraints of time, we see our sin cycle as an ongoing thing, but God already sees the sin as conquered, thanks to Jesus.

I can't say this for sure, as I can't speak for Him, but I think God wants us to view our sin as completely over with and dead; that's why Romans 6:2 asks, "How can we who died to sin still live in it?"

Sin is dead; it's dead in God's eyes, through Christ - unless we walk away from the faith completely (apostasy), we still stand in Jesus, and so our sin is gone. COMPLETELY ERASED. That's why Psalm 103:12 states: "as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us." He sees them NO MORE. That should be very comforting to all of us who feel like we keep failing God over and over and over again, and feel like we'll forever be stuck in our cycle of sin; the good news is that we won't, unless we choose to believe that we are stuck in it forever.

We are free, and someday we will be walking COMPLETELY in that freedom, in real time (again, this comes by faith, we can - and should - choose to believe we are free right now). I know that's challenging to realize when you're stuck in a sin cycle, as we don't know ourselves when the day will be that the cycle of sin will finally end, but God does. And it will definitely end, as long as we abide in Christ.

So if we can humble ourselves and see that we have the victory through Christ (and not through our own efforts), then we can walk in faith in the freedom that Jesus died to so graciously gave us. That is why Romans 6:4 states that, "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

So, I invite you to thank Jesus with me every day for freeing us from sin, and yes, that even means the sin that we're current struggling with right now in our lives...because someday, we won't be struggling with it anymore. We are totally free, as: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Let's walk together, brothers and sisters in Christ, in that freedom, and let's experience the shackles of our bondage break in Jesus name.

Note: of course this does not mean to willfully sin since Christ paid our debt and now we are free; this is referring to people who are struggling with sin and wish to stop. I imagine, however, that everyone on this sub is struggling and is not willfully and gleefully sinning. We still need to confess our sins, and repent; God just showed me today that we should be thanking Jesus in advance for freeing us from our sin - all glory goes to God for this revelation.

I graduated college with a bachelor’s degree in motion pictures (filmmaking) yesterday. Said goodbye to my fraternity, friends, good professors, and have officially moved back in with my parents.

I don’t have a job lined up and I’ve made peace with that. I do however have some plans and are getting some people reaching out to me about summer gigs and opportunities.

For the time being - I want to rest. Not think. Not be under any of the stresses or pressures that have aggravated addictions and led to incredibly bad habits that have distanced myself from God.

I am too exhausted to get myself out of bed for church in-person tomorrow. Thing is, now, I know I need to rest before embarking on whatever venture is next.

It’s surreal because my grandmother died a few weeks ago, and I couldn’t make the funeral. The very last time I saw her in-person was winter break, from Christmas through to the New Year. Now she’s not here.

I haven’t properly mourned or grieved, I know that. And now I’m grieving moving on to the next chapter without my most cherished friends around me. I love my family, but it’s not the same.

I know of the verses of giving burdens to Jesus and finding rest in Him, but even after growing up in church I still don’t understand how to practically do that without being restless and giving in to being a workaholic and starting my next project/venture in the next few days.

Any advice would be nice.

In the event of an absent father for whatever reason, and there is an adult son (or at least a son that's mature enough).

Who then would be the head of the home? Would it be the mother? Or would it be the son?

I heard in the Old Testament in the absence of a father, the eldest son becomes the head of the home.

I'm in a situation where my dad for the most part wasn't in my life and when he was, he often was a VERY poor example. It's my single mom who's been running things and I still live with her to this day.

I've had two sisters in Christ tell me that since I'm an adult now, that makes me the head of the household, spiritually speaking. That would mean me having to lead my mom spiritually.

I kinda don't like the idea of having to submit to a woman as head of the household (ie my mom). I always just kinda did my own thing and tried to keep myself in check.

I know it’s not good to ask god for signs. I understand he’s not to be demanded to do anything. But I was desperate and asked. I asked god to send me a sign of a red bird last night. Today I saw a decoration of three cardinals in a antique shop earlier today, and then I saw 2 different videos on YouTube with cardinals in them also. This may sound dumb but someone told me god only gives signs through scripture and nothing else. Please help me.

‭Luke 6:22 Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.

The first thing that comes to mind when I read this verse is "what does blessed mean?" Christians say it to each other all the time: "Have a blessed day" "God bless" "Stay blessed" etc...

I tried looking into the definition. One person defined it as prosperity. The word prosperity leaves a bad taste in my mouth from all the false teachers spreading a Gospel of prosperity rather than Christ on the Cross. I don't pray at the money tree and Christ isn't a pyramid scheme.

The one definition that spoke to my heart was this: It means an inner peace, an inner bliss, an inward joy that is not produced nor affected by circumstance. This state of unshakeable well-being is how God desires His children to live. That's a definition I can get behind.

People will try to steal your joy, circumstances will try to steal it, you will try to steal it from yourself, and these are all from the evil one. When your joy is in Jesus Christ and you remain in Him always, and He is your rock, your foundation, you are blessed.

So when someone tells me to stay blessed, God bless you, or have a blessed day, I'm going to wipe the cliche notion I had in my mind of what that meant away, and genuinely thank them, and bless them in return in the name of Jesus Christ, all Glory to the Father.

Hello. This is a lot of information to say and process. i hope you can take the time out of your day to read this. So I have a large problem and there is a lot of backcground information. I will start from the beginning. So surprisingly enough I was born into a family and I have two lesbian moms. One of them is biological. It's terrible isn't it. I call the biological one Mama. The other is Mommy. Anyways they are not religous. They used to be chrisitan as kids but it has changed. Mama went to a catholic school when she was younger. she told me this like four months ago that religion is just a way to control people and create fear and power and brainwashing and made up and stuff along that lines. This conversation started because we were doing some schoolwork together and it was a christian painting and then she started this. To summarize, both of them "beleive in science and love is love". I became Christian seriously at the start of January when I got my first Bible. However my first instances of feeling Jesus Christ was in August last summer. I play football and my coach is like a father to me and he always prays at the start of practice and eventually I asked him more about Jesus Christ and now I am here now. He seriously means a lot to me because I feel like I have no one. I have to hide reading the Bible in fear everyday and don't tell anyone I am Christian because I am so scared. Ever since I started this path towards God life isn't the same. I lost some of my friends and am pretty lonely. My best friend ever who we said we would be best friends forever is gone. He blocked me and isn't coming back, it's been a month. He goes to another school. I never really had friends growing up anyone. Outside of school barely anyone talks to me. Anyway back to the point, I feel like I don't love my parents anymore. I feel disgust and embarssment and feel like a failure and can't stand for anything. My last name means nothing to me. I really feel like I don't love them. This is terrible for me to say but sometimes I honestly think that if they both died I wouldnt be sad. At least then I could be me and wouldn't have to worry about anything people think of me. Another problem is that I will probably never get married or have kids because I know damn well that no woman of God is gonna be with some pathetic man like me who wasn't even born naturally. She will never meet my family, and her family won't want to meet mine and vise versa potentially. This sexual sin of my parents has made me question my faith because it seems like they are born this way and can't control/change it but my faith is in Jesus Christ. I know Jesus Christ is the way, the turth and the life because of many things that happened in my life and also because it makes sense. I have one friend that is a true christian that I talk to sometimes that I could talk to him about this but I'm scared he's gonna think I'm some weak loser or something, idk. I also have like a huge paranoia about being skinny and my family. I told my coach a while ago about my family when he asked what's my home life like and when I told him about my parents he said "mm ok". On the other side I also struggle with sexual sin. I used to be a porn addict when I was younger starting at age 12. I am 15 now, almost 16 and struggle with lust but not watch porn. I am a virgin. I am addicted to masturbation though for sure. Whenever I bust I literally have like trouble walking and feel so weak and tired and feel a huge amount of guilt and fear of God. But I will beat this, my record in 2024 is 10 days but I need and want to go forever. Another thing that is an issue is I stopped taking my ADHD meds a month ago and it's because of the negative side effects. However my parents insist I must take it whenever I bring up that I do not need and don't want to take it. My doctor also ignores me and doesn't give me it. I do not need it. I firmly believe that I do not need the medication and have been sinning lately because I tell them I take the medication when they ask me if I have. What I actually do is swallow the empty capsule after pouring out the medication down the sink. It is a sin but it is necessary because these meds are stupid and I don't like them. Alright that is everything to say I guess. Can anyone relate? What do I do? I feel like I am never going to live a good life because of this and don't know what to do?

Not actively starting one, just want to kinda know if it would even be an interest for like minded brothers and sisters to meet up via the interwebs at a set time maybe once a week to joined up and have a Bible study group. I’m disabled and something like this seems very appealing to me. Just wondering if anyone else thinks the same?

This one keeps wanting to sin. My new nature doesn't want to. The two keep clashing with each other and it's getting pretty exhausting. I'm looking forward to receiving a new body that can only obey God. Anyone else been feeling this way lately?

Or do we only need to love our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus?

I am not referring to the Biblical definition of perfect, but rather perfect to EVERY doctrine or commandment given to us by Jesus Christ. Is it possible? Why not?

I found a verse that promises that god will take vengeance on people who commit the sin I have.

Sorry to be cryptic but my sin is heinous in gravity and god would be just to take vengeance on me- but on behalf of those who I’ve sinned against. I dont want to frame this in a way that says god might not let me repent and kill me before then but at the same time that’s what i feel might happen and I don’t want to die. I do want to turn and change but at the same time I feel that I may not be genuinely repentant or sincere and all I have is false guilt/ humility in me and fear of hell. Other than that I don’t think I care the way I should. Is there any way I can flee from gods wrath?

I rarely miss church but have really needed to take some time away. I'm takin a break from my masters program also due to so much spiritual warfare and stuff going on with my teenager. Anyway I never was going to leave the church but needed a break.

I'm extremely private. I have a hard time letting anyone see me struggling or sharing my hardships but I know people see and feel it. I hate that. I'd rather keep my private struggles to myself as I learn through biblical therapy to share, connect, and open up to people.

Anyway, I know the people at my church care about me. I've gotten a few calls I let go to VM and few days later responded with a thank you and I'll see you tomorrow type message. I've been gone for a month and dread going tomorrow knowing it's going to be a bunch of questions about where I've been, everything ok, etc. I appreciate it to an extent as just a human kindness but really don't want to talk about it with anyone. What's a good response to these sweet souls, please, help me.

Thank you in advance! I would be so grateful if you guys could pray for my friend. Pray that he comes back to Jesus, and that he realizes how much he needs Him in his life. Pray that the Lord softens my friend’s heart and opens his mind to Him. Pray that during this difficult time with his work that he reaches out to the Lord and puts his trust in Him. Pray also that he leads his family to the Lord as well. Amen!

“in Revelation 21:4 4) He will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. All of that has gone forever.” so my question is how will I not be in sorrow if I don't see my love one in Heaven?? I only have hear of one good answer.”

Hi guys, I'm new to Christianity and reading the Bible. I am aware that there are stories from different cultures that are older than the Bible and are similar to it. I thought that the Truth would be recorded first soon after a biblical event but have been made aware that the Israelites didn't have a writing culture at that time, so any tablets/paper records of the event would be exceedingly rare, if they haven't all been destroyed. My thoughts currently is that the Israelites spread their stories to different cultures verbally, and other cultures changed it to fit their own agenda. Basically the order of events is this: God does something and/or speaks ->Israelites witness -> Israelites tell other cultures -> other cultures change the narrative. Or something like: God does something and/or speaks -> another culture other than the Israelites witness -> they change what happened to fit their narrative. Is that pretty much what happened? Thank you for reading.

Guys help me out here, as in “ no jesting “ as in no joking around? I love banter and comedy, do I gotta let it go? I’m willing, just want to know if I’m getting this verse right or taking it too literally or something,

Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. —Ephesians 5:4

I recently moved and we were looking for a new church and landed on a Reformed Presbyterian church. Everyone is very kind, the sermons are good, but it’s definitely something different. I come from an evangelical church so this is all new to me.

There’s some aspects I like (ex: singing Psalms) but others kind of confuse me, especially the ones that seem more “Catholic”-like (ex: baptizing infants) if that makes sense. For example, something that threw me off was being excluded from the communion. They only allowed the members of the church to partake and this was very different for me. Is a closed communion biblically sound? I don’t really understand it and would like some perspectives from people who have more knowledge on this.

This is a question I have for you all after a recent conversation I had with someone. I want to ask everyone here what their thoughts are on this topic. The person in question believed that people only change because they suffer pain. My personal response as a Christian was that that was ridiculous, but I wanted to hear from other Christians. Do you think that is a consistent perspective given the Gospel message? Why?

For some examples to help in answering the question: someone who cheats on his spouse who decides to stop. Or a workaholic suddenly deciding to value rest and relationships. What causes those people to change? Feel free to answer differently depending on if the person is a Christian or an unbeliever.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 5:10

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.

Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God. - I John 3:1-10

Nominal Christians have not truly come to know Jesus yet, and as such, they only have the wicked, inverted view of Christianity that they are spoon-fed by the lukewarm church. Their views are often quite literally the opposite of scripture, for scripture says that those who know Jesus will walk like Him, putting sin out of their lives and becoming more like Christ, loving God and loving others. But when they see someone living a godly life, they accuse them of being evil and trying to work their way to Jesus. Again, this is inverted, as scripture tells us that the reason authentic Christians live a godly life is because they know Jesus. It is those who continue to keep sin around, like a pet, who have not known the Lord yet.

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. - II Timothy 3:1-7

But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. - I Corinthians 2:14

But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ predicted. They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them. - Jude 1:17-18

But I do not write to put these people down, only to encourage those who are put down by them. I, too, was once a nominal Christian, walking according to my own lusts. I remember the contention between my wife (a godly woman who despised my sin) and myself (a defensive backslider who was not truly walking with the Lord). We must not hate those who still walk in darkness, though they hate us. We ought to pity them instead and speak the truth in love. But once it becomes evident that they actually love pleasure rather than God or that they lack saving faith in the redeeming power of God that is able to make us holy, then we ought to take heed of scripture and go our separate way.

Don't be discouraged when these people persecute you for righteousness' sake. They will say many hurtful and provocative things when the darkness inside of them feels threatened, but even if they call you a self-righteous demon, remember this:

Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, the members of my household will be called by even worse names! - Matthew 10:25

God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. - Matthew 5:6

And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. - II Timothy 2:24-26

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. - Ephesians 6:12

I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. - Acts 20:29-30

But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve. - II Corinthians 11:14-15

Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. - James 5:7-8

I gotta be honest, trying to find good Christian YouTube channels/podcasts is harder than you would think it is. Most are either the average young social media influencer style with a Christian mask on, or overly fluffy, if you know what I mean. As in, they seem like Sunday school teachers or youth pastors, with the big cheesy grin and everything is rainbows and sugar cookies for a Christian type of attitude.

Looking for some recommendations for some serious bible study channels and channels that deal with living a real life as a Christian and the struggles that go with it.

A YouTube channel that is in the vein of what I would like to find, is the Ascension Presents channel with Fr. Mike Scmitz. His Bible in a Year series is great. But I would like to know if there are any non-Catholic versions of it. Though the Catholic channels do seem to be more serious in nature than the Protestant ones. For some reason Protestants feel the need to present themselves like we're all just cute bunnies.

I have been studying the bible more about salvation and eternal life, and two verses really hit me, that without sanctification no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14-17), and that we have to choose to be sanctified, which results in eternal life (Romans 6:19-23).

It really hit me how important "sanctification" is, and while I had a definition answer of what sanctification was, I really wanted to dive in and really figure out what the bible says about it.

I want to share a few verses that really stuck out to me on sanctification, and the below that I have shared all the verses in the bible that use the two Greek words I found that were translated and sanctification and sanctifying. Please let me know if you disagree with any of my takes on these verses, and why.

One of the biggest take aways from this study is that Jesus was sanctified by God, and by His actions, and we are sanctified by God and our actions.

Jesus asks God to sanctify His disciples in the truth, God's word. Jesus sanctified Himself for our sakes, so that we may also be sanctified in truth. -John 17:14-19

Those that have been sanctified by faith in Jesus receive an inheritance, and to join those that have been sanctified; we are told we need to have our eyes opened so that we may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that we may receive forgiveness of sins and receive an inheritance -Acts 26:18

Those that have been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of God should no longer be unrighteous, and that includes fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals, thieves, the covetous, drunkards, revilers, and swindlers. -1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Paul asks that the God of peace Himself sanctify us entirely, denoting that there can be different levels of sanctification. Sanctification is tied to your spirit, soul, and body being preserved complete, and found to be without blame at the coming of Jesus.  -1 Thessalonians 5:23

Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness. Anyone who cleanses himself from these things will be sanctified and useful to God and prepared for every good work -2 Timothy 2:19-22

Jesus, who sanctifies, is from God, and the ones that are sanctified are from God, and for this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brethren - Hebrews 2:11

By Jesus's offering of His body, He perfected for all time those who ARE sanctified. The covenant that He makes with us is that He put His laws upon our hearts, and they are written in our minds. Then He says He will remember our sins and lawless deeds no more. -Hebrews 10:14-17

We are sanctified by the blood of the covenant of Jesus, and to go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth is trampling under foot the Son of God, and insulting the Spirit of grace, and you should expect a terrifying judgement and the fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. -Hebrews 10:26-29

You must present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. You have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, which results in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. Presenting your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness results in death, and you now are ashamed of those previous actions. The gift of grace of God is eternal life. -Romans 6:19-23

Paul says that he gave us instructions on how we ought to walk and please God, and encouraged the early church to excel in this even more. The commandments Paul gave with others were given by the authority of the Lord Jesus. God's will is our sanctification, and that is that we abstain from sexual immorality, that we control our body in sanctification and honor and not in lustful passion, like those who do not know God. We should also not transgress or defraud others in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in these things, just as Paul solemnly warned. God called us into sanctification, not into impurity. Those that reject God's call for us to be sanctified are not rejecting Paul or other Christians, but God who gives His Holy Spirit to us. -1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

God chose us from the beginning to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. -2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

Without sanctification no one will see the Lord. We should see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that we don't become bitter, that we are not immoral (fornicator) or godless (heathenish, wicked, profane) like Esau was, who sold his own birthright for a single meal, and was then rejected when he desired to inherit the blessing because there was no place for repentance even though he sought it with tears. -Hebrews 12:14-17

Now here are all of the original verses so you can study them yourself.

The word that was used in Greek we will look at that gets translated as “sanctify” is hagiazó, which is number 37 in Strong’s Concordance.

Definition: to make holy, consecrate, sanctify. Usage: I make holy, treat as holy, set apart as holy, sanctify, hallow, purify.

From hagios; to make holy, i.e. (ceremonially) purify or consecrate; (mentally) to venerate -- hallow, be holy, sanctify.

Now we are going to look at verses that use this word so we can get a better understanding of what hagiazó and it’s forms mean. The word is not always translated as sanctify, so the word that was translated from hagiazó will be bolded and italicized. All verses will be from the NASB 1995 edition.

• Matthew 6:9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
• Matthew 23:17 You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?
• John 10:36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
• John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
• John 17:19 For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
• Acts 20:32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
• Acts 26:18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’
• Romans 15:16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
• 1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours
• 1 Corinthians 6:11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
• 1 Corinthians 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.
• Ephesians 5:26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word
• 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 1 Timothy 4:4-5 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.
• 2 Timothy 2:19-22 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
• Hebrews 2:11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren
• Hebrews 9:13-14 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
• Hebrews 10:8-10 After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
• Hebrews 10:14-17 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them. After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And on their mind I will write them,” He then says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
• Hebrews 10:26-29 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

Now we are going to look at verses that use the word hagiasmos so we can get a better understanding of what hagiasmos and it’s forms mean. The English translation of sanctification will be bolded and italicized. All verses will be from the NASB 1995 edition.

•Romans 6:19-23 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

•1 Corinthians 1:26-31 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

•1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

•2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

•1 Timothy 2:15 But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.

•Hebrews 12:14-16 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

•1 Peter 1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

•To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

I hope some people out there find this useful.

I wish we could make polls, but anyway... How is the music at your church? Instruments or acapella? Is there a designated choir/band, or is the singing done by anyone and everyone. If the latter, do you participate?

At my Church, the whole congregation sings, either accompanied by piano or acapella. I'm no good singer, but I find that it sounds best when a bunch of people join in, especially if it's a song we all know by heart. However, here lately it sounds like fewer people join in, which makes it sound worse. Has anyone else with congregational singing noticed something similar?

I don’t really understand how sins work, and if I even have to read the bible. I was wondering a few questions… 1. Do I have to read the bible. 2. Are any if these sins: badmouthing people, watching insensitive content, masterbating

Just wanted to let these thoughts out to believers so it won't hopefully mislead and stumble others.

I've been struggling spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, and financially these past few months and the Lord has been awfully quiet so far. I'm having a hard time believing in His plans and I really have no idea what to do next.

I have prayed and prayed and prayed and nothing. Is this a test or a consequence or what is it? I'm kinda doubting my faith but I do know the truth which is Jesus is King and all knowing. But I can't really help the feeling of being neglected. I'm trying to be strong but it's just tiring.

If someone has gone through something similar, what got you through it? Of course it won't be the same as mine, but I could use any motivation I could.

John makes a Lot emphasis on who Jesus was and all that, in comparison to the first three gospels that mainly talk about the kingdom of God coming to Earth and on Jesus ministry and moral teachings, so could the gospel of John be a work against ppl claiming Jesus something that he wasnt?

so when i often hear or watch ministers, i read/hear a hard to stomach sound message that people are often divided on like "dont cuss" or "read KJV only" or "women shouldn't preach.", and etc of that sort of petty stuff, and i always open up my comment with "did the Lord really say.." and start questioning and or justifying the things the message is pointing fingers against and the ironic thing is no one seems to rebukes me for it nobody is all like "how dare you question God like that?!" or "Hey! you should not say 'did God really say' those are satan's words!" i often say 'Did the Lord really say' to test their reactions but they seem to just calmly gloss over it and give a more patient reply

Rap has a lot of swearing and remarks that would probably be considered a sin by most Christians. Im wondering if you feel that listening to rap is a sin what do you think about it being massive with the younger population?

Growing up, I was always surrounded by friends. People genuinely liked me and always asked me to be their partners in class. They always wanted to sit next to me in lunch. We would hang out every weekend. People told me I'm "different". They told me I have a positive aura.

As I grew older, I felt different from these people... After hitting my lowest point and coming to Christ, my friends have been distancing themselves from me. I lost friend groups and was isolated. During this time I really focused on building my relationship with God.

Now, when I come across someone who wants to be my friend, but they don't follow Jesus, I start to find myself drifting from them. They tend to hold this negative, superficial energy that I can't shake. I keep them at a distance. I know I should be the light in peoples' lives but sometimes I'm in a vulnerable place that I gravitate being alone.

I tried hanging out with others but I feel so separate. I feel so alone sometimes. Is God isolating me? I joined a Christian Bible study group but I felt so different from the rest of them. I've felt like this for years now. If I can't relate to Christians then where will I find community? I feel so lost...

Can anyone relate? I've been praying for community for 3 years now... Is God putting me in a season of isolation?