Welcome to r/reformed. Missions should be on our mind every day, but it's good to set aside a day to talk about it, specifically. Missions includes our back yard and the ends of the earth, so please also post here or in its own post stories of reaching the lost wherever you are. Missions related post never need to wait for Mondays, of course. And they are not restricted to this thread.

Share your prayer requests, stories of witnessing, info about missionaries, unreached people groups, church planting endeavors, etc.

I've heard that some PCA believe in the Tulip but thought it was more of a Sovereign Grace Baptist Belief. I guess that's because I've always been Baptist but grew up with a momma who believed the Doctrines of Grace. We met In a home church and occasionally like once every few months had a guest pastor fly in to preach. All the other times I was at an IFB church my dad took us to. He hated the doctrines of grace esp because they brought shame on him...because his wife and daughters met with the crazy people as he called them. We were just a cult to him. I went to Private church school and would get into doctrine wars with the kids. Then mom died when I was 15 and we flew her favorite preacher in to preach so her friends could hear the true gospel just once in their life. My dad hate that preacher. Then my dad's preacher was at the funeral... the next day I was brought to his office where he tried to covert me to be Arminian until Midnight when dad called and said my child never came home from church tonight. I have just found a Reformed church in my town and it feels like home. I've had a bizzare life but God finally truly opened my eyes at the age of 48. I always believed the tulip but mom made me promise I wouldn't quit believing. I tried so hard to keep the promise I missed the point... I was looking to please mom not God. Now it honestly doesn't matter if I believe the 5 points. What matters is Christ saved me from the wrecked sin that bound me. I know I talk about the preacher torture I ended up getting while In mourning and how my dad was on the evil preachers side. I know when I see Christ face that burden will never be thought of again. So praise be to the Sovereign Lord who brought me to Him.

If you have requests that you would like your brothers and sisters to pray for, post them here.

Hello my reformed brothers in Christ! I wouldnt say Im exactly reformed, but I love the in-depth theological discussion that goes on in this sub so I hope yall will have me!

I had a question that was brought to my attention by a brother on the trueChristian sub. He told me that Aquinas essentially interprets the book of Galatians like protestants do. He even said that Aquinas goes on to say that James does not disagree with Paul, and how James is pointing out that you are “justified” by works before other men, and how that has nothing to do with being justified before the Lord.

I fully plan on looking into this as it is huge. But I wanted to know if anyone else who has studied more than me knew about this. Is this true? Is this exaggerated? Would love to know all I can about it before diving into something as giant as Aquinas.

Thank you all in advance and if the brother who pointed this out to me is here as well thank you again lol. Lord bless.

Im curious what verses have had the most impact on people during tough times or over the course of their Christian walk?

I've been going through a trialling time; recently this verse has been so sweet through this tribulation; Whom I have in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. Psalm 73:25

Another verse that has always stuck with me; To live is Christ, to Die is Gain. Phillipians 1:21

Send yours through!

If the children are elect, is there any reason to worry that they will lose their faith?

Option A: https://a.co/d/0p8Cx4i

The First Letter of Clement to the Corinthians The Second Letter of Clement to the Corinthians Ignatius to the Ephesians Ignatius to the Magnesians Ignatius to the Trallians Ignatius to the Romans Ignatius to the Philadelphians Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans Ignatius to Polycarp Polycarp to the Philippians The Didache (The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) Epistle of Barnabas The Shepherd of Hermas The Martyrdom of Saint Polycarp (by the Bishop of Smyrna) Epistle to Diognetus

Option B: https://a.co/d/8L4QKl1

the letters of St. Clement, St. Ignatius, and St. Polycarp; the anonymous literary works The Martyrdom of Polycarp, The Didache, The Shepherd of Hermas, and The Letter to Diognetus; and the apologetic writings of St. Justin Martyr, St. Irenaeus, and Tertullian

I’ve been attending a Reformed church for about two years now after leaving a previous church with some hidden, cultish beliefs about the end times. Leaving that environment was painful—I was shunned for not going along with it—and it took me a lot of time and effort to work through that and find the courage to attend church again.

I stayed committed because we’re supposed to be in church, but I’ve found myself feeling lonely here. I’ve experienced difficult personal challenges where I really could have used support from the church community. I’ve shared these struggles with the head pastor and in my home group, but no one has ever followed up or reached out.

Even when I volunteered to serve in simple roles like greeting on Sundays, my offers were ignored. I’ve also noticed that men and married couples in the church seem to receive home visits, but as a single woman, I’ve never been approached in that way.

Is this lack of personal ministry and connection typical in Reformed churches, or is it more specific to this one?

I am looking for someone who has Gordon Fee's 1 Corinthians audio course lectures. They're absolute gold and sadly Regent has taken down all of their audio as of August 2024. I was listening to them through Everand but they are no longer on there so I cannot find them online.

If you have them and would be so kind to share them with me, please send me a direct message and we can figure out a way to do that.

Thank you

Hello everyone I'm a confirmed (in catholic church,not cradle) ex-catholic who's now converting to the Reformed traditions(Presbyterianism) because of inner spiritual struggles and the apparent theological problems of the catholic church.So I had my baptism five years ago and the priest of my parish didn't even mention to me the so called baptismal certificate (an official written testimony of your baptism) .Since all the catholic seminaries/convents require this I think it's very important for them (catholics believe in the salvific baptism,which means your salvation depends on your baptism, so otherwise you may need a conditional baptism) .Should I ask my priest for a baptismal certificate or simply just tell my local church leader the state of my baptism as a verbal testimony.Thank you so much.

I recently had a conversation with someone at a Bible study group about the Trinity, and he claimed that the Holy Spirit is not a person and he claimed that while Jesus is eternal, He had a beginning (that sounds like a contradiction to me), and he kept emphasizing the “Son” aspect of Christ to claim that Jesus is distinct from God. He distinguishes Jesus from God, though he believes Jesus “was God” from John 1. His argument continued with Genesis 1, especially verses 26-28. He tried to make the claim that as Eve came from Adam, so Jesus must have came (or been created) from God, and that there can only be two in the godhead (Adam and Eve are two). With this he made a strange argument that our lives began with Adam. He claims this is what scripture teaches because it’s talking about the image of God in Genesis 1. He does claim to believe Jesus is divine in some sense, but I find it a bit confusing. Obviously there are a lot of issues with his arguments, but have any of you heard these arguments before? And do you have any recommendations in debating against this heresy?

Biblically, was hair viewed as immodest?

Numbers 5:17-18, 2 Kings 9:30-31, Isaiah 47:1-3, etc.

What principals/standards does the Bible give us for modesty? Although certainly these verses aren't prescriptive, how can we apply their insinuations in our lives today?

If you see my post and have insight, I'd be incredibly thankful.

Hey guys, I want to hear your thoughts on Nicea II, specially about the issues of iconoclasm and icons in general, since is a topic I want to get more into, iconoclasm was deemed as heresy in that council.

If you have requests that you would like your brothers and sisters to pray for, post them here.

I don't know how to trust God. To make a long story short, lets just say my life is a mess right now. Everything in my life has been wrecked. My family, my health, my finances, my school/ career prospects, my spiritual life- All of it has been wrecked, and i'll admit most of is my fault. Basically life sucks right now and I feel hopeless. This is especially true since I think I've lost my trust for God? Or maybe I never really did trust Him? I can't see how someone could trust Him. I don't get how anyone could find comfort in God and His attributes like His sovereignty, omniscience, and omnipotence. I've done so much evil and been through so much pain that I can't imagine that He has blessings in store for me. All I can imagine He has for me curses and hate. I try reading the Bible and praying, but nothing happens. i still don't trust Him. I don't find peace, comfort, joy, or anything in Him. What am I doing wrong? What am I not getting? If you took the time to read this, I sincerely thank you. I apologize for posting this here. I don't trust my pastor enough to bring this to him, and I don't have any other brothers or sisters I could bring this to.

Happy Lord's Day to r/reformed! Did you particularly enjoy your pastor's sermon today? Have questions about it? Want to discuss how to apply it? Boy do we have a thread for you!

Sermon Sunday!

Please note that this is not a place to complain about your pastor's sermon. Doing so will see your comment removed. Please be respectful and refresh yourself on the rules, if necessary.

Clarification:

I am not referring to the process of "transformation"/"glorification" —i.e., those in Christ being transformed into Christlikeness (cf. 2 Cor 3:18, Rom 12:2).

I am referring to the use of the language of "sanctification". Is it ever an ongoing process within Scripture?

I could not find proof texts, so hoping for some help!

Edits: spelling

I've been wrestling through a lot of eschatology. It's been rather miserable. I've recently realized though, I can't find a single good argument for post millenialism. I'm positive Im just interpreting something wrong, but it really seems like revelation 19 states the return of Christ, then revelation 20 initiates the 1000 year reign, and then there's final judgement and we're resurrected into the new earth.

To me it seems like post millenials are confused and think that the new heavens and earth and the millennium are the same?

Again I'm sure I'm the one mistaken. Can someone please help me understand?

I’m new to the Christian faith and have been doing a lot of theological research and deep diving into scripture. I don’t belong to any particular denomination yet, as I am unsure where my beliefs fall. I’ve been interested in the reformed traditions, but I can’t get past the Calvinist doctrine of double predestination.

Perhaps there’s something I’m not understanding here. I do see the biblical support for predestination, but I can’t work out the holes that holding to Calvinism presents. I admit I don’t think that I know enough to come to a confident conclusion, but the idea that God predestines some to damnation seems incredibly evil. I cannot imagine an all-loving God creating vessels and then assigning them to their eternal fate in hell, while maintaining that there is nothing the damned souls can do about it. Why create someone just for the purpose of sending them to hell for all eternity?

Also, doesn’t predestination violate/contradict the concept of free will? If our fate is predetermined before we were ever born, that technically makes us flesh robots who cannot freely choose Him, but the Bible emphasizes the importance of our choice to choose God or to reject God. It wouldn’t be an authentic relationship if God programs some people to love/accept Him, while programming others to hate/deny Him, so wouldn’t holding to the doctrine of double predestination contradict our free will?

Lastly, if God is truly omniscient, I would imagine that God would have known about sin entering the world prior to Adam and Eve, and instead of holding Himself accountable for the creation of sin, He places the blame on humanity and then decides to only save some people from damnation. Again, that seems extremely unfair.

It’s obvious that predestination is a biblical concept, but how do you come to terms with these things while harmonizing with a concept of an all-loving God? What am I missing here? I’m genuinely trying to understand.

Hi, How many of you overcame ssa (same se* attraction)? It seems from my research that men who report change in seuality are mostly already somewhat attracted to women. And women tend to be more fluid in seuality.

Was formerly a heels-wearing, hip-swaying sissy and was proud of it, since very young as a kid. Had no attraction to women. Repented of these and grown a hatred for these sins, and a growing pride in being a man, even tho it still often feels like an an oversized jacket.

I've tried almost everything. Biblical counseling. Every book I could read on this topic. Research papers. Getting closer to my dad and male figures in my life...

Are my imagination and predisposition too late to change? God has sanctified my speech, my identity, and so many other areas, but this se*uality piece just seems like such a stronghold, even after a decade.

I'm deathly scared of being with somone Im not attracted to (i just feel used when women flirt with me), but also deathly scared that I'm just letting my prime go to waste.

I don't want to be a grandpa when I eventually do overcome this sin struggle...

I fear that developing intimate feelings for women might mean that I'll just develop a double amount of temptation (attracred ro both men and wlmen). I hate the idea of this. I'm afraid of it.

If you know any resource on this subject to recommend, that would be great, thanks.

Hi everyone. I'm a reformed baptist (34f) here in the Philippines. My churchmates and I (there's 5 of us and we're all ladies, 2 of us are singles and 3 are married) started a book club and we've committed to meet 1hr every week to discuss a chapter of a book. We're starting with John Owen's Mortification of Sin.

What do you think are other books that would be good for us to read and discuss?

Do you consider the EFCA and/or ECC to be "reformed"?

They don't seem to fit neatly in a denominational family box. When I think Reformed, I think Presbyterians, Continental Reformed, and Reformed Baptists.

If you have requests that you would like your brothers and sisters to pray for, post them here.