Christianity

Christianity

1. Practices

   • Worship
   • Prayer
   • The sacraments: baptism
   • The sacraments: Holy Communion
   • The role of the church in the local community
   • The role of the church in the local community
   • The place of mission and evangelism
   • Church growth
   • Christian persecution
   • The church's response to worldwide poverty
   • The importance of worldwide church
   • Celebrating Festivals
   • Pilgrimage

2. Beliefs and teachings

   • The nature of God
     • 1:3 of world population Christian
     • Over 2000 years old
     • Official religion of Roman Empire
     • 3 main branches
       • Catholic
       • Protestant
       • Orthodox
     • Monotheistic Religion
     • God makes and sustains everything
     • Communicate with God through prayer
     • God is a spirit in the Bible not a physical body
     • "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me"
     • God is holy
   • Christian Believes about Creation
     • God created everything and this is told in the Book of Genesis
     • In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
     • God created all life with humans being last
     • Created the world in six periods of time
     • God created everything "good"
     • John believed Jesus was God the Son and therefore within the oneness of God
     • Christians use the term Trinity to help them understand this divine mystery
   • God as omnipotent, loving and just
     • Christians believe that God is perfect
     • God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent
       • "Nothing is impossible with God"
     • His love is important and inspires Christians
     • God's greatest love was sending his son Jesus to earth
       • "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son"
     • God is the perfect giver of justice and judge of human character
     • Christians trust God even when things appear to be wrong
   • The incarnation and Jesus, the son of God
     • To Christians, the belief that Jesus was God in human form is more important than the details of his birth
     • Jesus was conceived non sexually
     • Jesus' words have great authority and explain his miracles and resurrection
     • Jesus is referred to as "The Christ"
     • When Jesus was baptised a voice from heaven said
       • "You are my son"
   • The Crucifixion
   • The resurrection and ascension
   • Resurrection and life after death
   • Sin and salvation
   • Heaven and hell
   • The oneness of God and the Trinity
     • Trinity develops the idea of one God
     • There are three "persons" all of which are God
     • The father, the son and the holy spirit
     • Each person of the trinity is fully God
     • The persons of the Trinity are not the same
     • God the Father
       • The first person in the Trinity
         • "our Father, who art in heaven"
       • Created the earth and all living things
     • God the Son
       • Present on earth as Jesus
         • Jesus was fully human and fully god
     • God the Holy Spirit
       • Once Jesus left the earth God sent the Holy Spirit to guide and sustain life on earth
   • The role of Christ in salvation
   • The afterlife and judgement