Reflection Paper On Christian Journey

Ultimately, when an individual responds to their baptismal call, a community of Christian believers are united under the goal of guiding the initiated. Thus, this attained unity allows the faith to prosper like a living religion. Furthermore, re-birth from sin is intrinsically connected to the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is a fundamental belief throughout Christianity, though it is practiced differently. “Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.” (CCC, 1213). Regardless of the denomination, all baptism rituals symbolise beliefs in the Christian faith, all involves water. Some denominations, like Lutheran practice the sprinkling of water over the head of an initiate, while Pentecostals, practice immersing the head of the initiate in the water. Thus a reminder that, “Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”, for individuals who have been initiated that they made a commitment to the teachings, practices and life of of the community. The baptised should live a life of faith as modelled on the example of Jesus, who forgave their sin. The last belief derived from Baptism, is the believed in the Trinity. Through the guidance and support of the Holy Spirit, an individual's is able to carry out God’s word, and evangelise and spread the message of Jesus. “One will come more powerful that I, and he

When it comes to baptism, what automatically comes to mind is bathing of holy water and immersing into a life of God. Well that isn’t the same for literature. Typically in literature, a character’s “baptism” is when a character’s belief, perspective or motivation is changed throughout the novel. A great example of a symbolic baptism is in the novel Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, dealing with the character Noah.

Baptism is such an important part of a person’s life. The sacrament of baptism goes back to 200 year old tradition. I will be focusing on community for the sacrament of baptism; there are different views, practices and significance of baptism for the individuals across many Christian churches such as Armenian Orthodox, Roman Catholic Church, and Anglican Church.

Baptism has many inextricable ties to the beliefs that are held so very tightly by the Christian church and its adherents. It is one of the many traditions of the faith that seeks to express aspects of the religion that are essential to its practice. Baptism is linked to beliefs about: spiritual rebirth through Christ who seeks to cleanse and purify each individual from their sins, admission into the Christian Church and its mission, faith in the Holy Trinity, particularly in the power of the Holy Spirit which seeks to bring knowledge of God to the world as well as the need for salvation from eternal damnation as emphasised in Lewis Sperry Chafer’s book Major Bible Themes which states that: “...baptism when practiced can be no more than an expression of faith and the hope...that the child will ultimately be saved.” Baptism also highlights the Christian beliefs based on faith and repentance-reconciling with God and accepting one’s role as His son/daughter, participation in the life, death and resurrection of Christ by being able to partake in celebrating His sacrifice for mankind, and finally the forgiveness of sins- turning towards a life filled with God’s guidance and righteous presence.

Connection: The biblical story, Jonah and the Whale, is an example of Baptism. God gave Jonah a job, but he set off in another direction. Suddenly, there was a storm. The boat was tossing in the middle of the sea. No one on the boat knew what to do. Jonah knew that the storm was because of him. God was with him. Everyone prayed for forgiveness and they threw Johan into the water. The storm immediately stopped. God heard Jonah’s prayers and sent a fish to rescue him. Jonah lived in the fish’s stomach for three days. He prayed to God for help. When it was safe, the fish spit Jonah out onto the land. Jonah was cleansed when he returned back to the land. Being tossed into the water was symbolic. He was reborn after the incident.

My family and I got up, got ready, and drove less than a mile down Old Hickory Boulevard to Forest Hills Baptist Church, like we had always done. Except, that day I packed my swimming trunks. On August 5th of 2007, I was baptized by a minister at my church. I was eager to get started. With both of us cloaked in white, the minster and I stepped into the baptism “tub” during the worship service. Colorful rays of light were beaming through the stained glass windows, the water was warm, and my mother was standing beside of me for comfort and reassurance; I was at peace. Out of the opening, I could see the watchful eyes of the choir, worship leader, congregation, and my family; I was at peace. As part of tradition, I was getting ready to be immersed into the water; I was at peace. While in the water, an extraordinary sensation of purification swept through my body. I, for the first time in my eight years of life, had truly felt cleansed from head to toe. This feeling was a direct action of the Holy Spirit entering and presiding in my vulnerable self permanently.

The importance of “baptism” scenes is very clear in a lot of literature. It symbolizes a washing away of the old, a new start. A good example of this is in the book “Fahrenheit 451” by Thomas C. Foster. This book is not only about burning, it is also about rebirth. Guy Montag is in the middle of running away from his rebellion, being hunted for reading books that he is supposed to be burning and killing a man. Montag reaches a river and jumps in to protect himself from being caught. He quickly changes his clothes so the mechanical dog’s do not find him and hides, floats, and waits in the water. As he comes to land on the other side of the river and we see him change as a person. He was stripped of his old life burning books and started a fresh

Often held as a rite of passage and entrance into the Christian church, baptism is much more than just symbolic ritual. Baptism was commanded by Jesus Christ in the Great Commission recounted in the book of Matthew. Even though we are simplistically called to be obedient by being baptized the Christian church has long debated the aspects of this ordinance. Denominations are divided on the basic meaning, types and modes of baptism even two thousand years after the founding of the Christian church. Just as the other ordinance, the Lord’s Supper, congregations find themselves at odd with tradition, biblical interpretation and even individual understanding. However, the simple message of this awe inspiring act can be explained out of the

Baptism is a highly significant practice for most Christians as it is the rite that marks the admission of an individual into most of the Christian churches. It is through this practice that candidates (commonly infants in Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox branches of Christianity) hand themselves to God whilst receiving a promise of eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Baptism is significant to the individual and also to the wider church community as it is through this introduction of a new person into the community, that adherents are able to live out their principal beliefs in different ways and therefore fulfill their relationship with God. Within the sacrament of baptism, all three aspects of the principal belief of the Trinity is revealed, “Go, therefore, make disciples of all

In a contemporary Christian environment one of the most prominent practices to have a significant contribution to Christianity as a living religious tradition is Baptism. Baptism is of utmost importance for most Christian denominations. It has profound significance for the individual who is baptised and is also important for the Christian community as a whole. As a sacrament of initiation, Baptism calls its adherents to become missionary Disciples of Christ. It is through baptism that one’s faith journey begins and Christians are called to follow and live their lives in the light of Christ.

In his book The Archetypal God and The Baptism of Jesus (LifeRich Publishing, 2016), Pastor John C’ de Baca wants to clear up any misunderstanding that have arisen from the act. And the job also comes with exposing the teachings of modern Christian churches that preach Jesus sought baptism from John to show

Baptism is the sacramental rite that admits an adherent into the Christian Church community. It has origins with of John the Baptist as described in the Gospels, available through the recounts from Paul.

Wesley pictures baptism as essential for the Church and baptism is a holy observance for

Studies of Jesus primarily focus on the duality of Jesus and how he is able to be both human and divine at once. This subject was disputed at the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451 between the

Christian Tradition course exposed me to the Christian Tradition based on Biblical and church history. The course taught me the differences and similarities of Christian Tradition from other major world religions. I learned about the significance of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Trinity based on the teachings of the Bible. The course also briefly covered 2,000 years of church history but with emphasis on the impact of the Council of Nicea, Council of Chalcedon, and John and Charles Wesley on Christianity. The professor emphasized the importance of the reformation that sparked a revolution in the church.