The Sacrament Of Baptism And Communion

Sacramentality, mediation, and communion – three properties of Catholicism that are central to its understanding. Like Catholicism, these three properties are universal and can be found in the writings of Catholic authors dating back thousands of years ago. From the first written Scriptures found in the Bible to the modern day works of writers like Flannery O’Connor, these three properties can be found portrayed in works of both fiction and nonfiction. However, these properties are not always easy to find for the untrained mind or even to differentiate for those who do have a better understanding. Sacramentality is the notion that all of creation potentially bears the presence of God. Essentially, one experiences the invisible God through the visible world. Mediation goes hand in hand with sacramentality. It occurs when God is not only present in creation but also works through it. Instead of something symbolizing or reminding you of God, it actually speaks to you and brings you closer to Him. The last property of the Catholic Church is communion. Communion is God’s way of reaching us through the communities in which we live. All three of these properties have close ties to each other. Flannery O’Connor portrays all three – sacramentality, mediation, and communion – in her book Mystery and Manners.

Rituals and ceremonies are the practical aspects of Christianity, which involve customary acts of special, deliberate and repeatable patterns of behaviour through the use of words, actions and symbols (Coleman, 2006). Rituals and ceremonies solidify the relationship between Christians and God as they present a practical, symbolic and comprehensible expression of their underlying beliefs (Morrissey, 2010). Baptism is the ritual of initiation into Christianity, which in essence, is initiation into a life of positive living modelled on Christ. Baptism is held within a congregation of the body of Christ where they vow to spiritually nurture the child or adult being baptised (RCA, 2012). The symbology of the water in baptism encompasses the cleansing of an individual, and it is a practical element of the ritual, which underpins a broader idea of initiating a living adherent into the religion. Another ritual present in all Christian denominations is prayer, which the baptised

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

In the Anglican Church baptism starts off by gathering hymns, pslam or anthem depending on the priest. After that is done the priest greets the community as respect. The Collect of the day is prayed and other prayers as well. After this the priest talks about the lesson from the scriptures which most often are from the bible , then they will be a presentation and examination of the candidate then the baptismal covenant is prayed to bless the baby towards the end they also pray prayers of thanksgiving and the priest will bless the baby over the water. When the baby is washed with the water the prayers of consecration over oils is prayed after this the

Centuries ago, the Bible was written when God gave his only son who died on the cross for our sins. “Our” is standing for everyone in the world that God calls his children. Jesus Christ died on the cross with active and passive obedience. This means Jesus actively kept Gods Law for us, which we live by today. Jesus passively took away all of our sins, he died on the cross to take them away and we receive righteousness. Even if we are un-deserving, when Jesus died on the cross for everyone, it gives everyone the opportunity to have everlasting life with God. Baptism is one of the few things that God asks of everyone. The purpose of Baptism is to cleanse your sins and you will be forgiven. With the blessing of God, the Holy Water cleanses the person’s sins and they are given everlasting life.

Ever since its inception, Christianity has been epitomised by a range of religious practices that explore the sacred beliefs that have been upheld and spread around the world. These practices thus continue to bear a significant influence over the lives of adherents and how they seek to express their faith in Christianity. One such religious practice is that of baptism which functions as a significant milestone in the life of any

Some of you might wonder how can I talk about church, even though today’s scripture talk about Holy Communion. So this is how United Methodist stated on Holy Communion, “. .We believe the Lord 's Supper is a representation of our redemption, a memorial of

It was created in New England churches, because many of the people in the second generation didn’t become Saints, because they wouldn’t tell their conversion experience. Before the babies of Saints could only get baptized, now the children of baptized members could be baptized.

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

It is to be administered in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and allows believers to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ, which is revealed in Romans 6:4: “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the death through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life”. Baptism 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

All Christians know about the Great Commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, English Standard Version). In that command, Jesus tells us to baptize in the name of the Trinity. What does the word “baptism” mean? Baptimsa and sometimes baptismos, the Greek word origin of “baptism”, can translate to “immersion” or “bathing” without any religious implications (McGowan, 2014). Nearly every Christian church practices baptism with a religious implication; however, they do not agree on God’s activity in, the qualifications for admitting a person to, and methods of administering baptism. For instance, many churches do not baptize people until they become adults and make a profession of faith, while others encourage baptizing an infant soon after they are born. The practices and philosophy for baptism changed throughout its use in the New Testament, the Early Church, and the Medieval era.

Spirit baptism has been an important topic in the Church for a really long time and while we discuss this topic we always have several questions rising about this issue. Churches have different perspective about the way they address the issue. The common question which arises with this topic are that, some of the Churches claim that spirit baptism is demonstrated after receiving the gifts of tongues and the other issues which often raises is that its relation with the word.

Christians' Celebrations of Holy Communion There are many different ways in which Christians celebrate Holy Communion, depending on the denomination of Christianity, in which they belong. Holy Communion is one of the seven sacraments found in Christianity. A sacrament is an outward physical act with an inward, deeper meaning, which can be obtained through various, specific rituals. In the case of Holy Communion, which is also known as the Eucharist meal or Mass, Christian worshippers believe that they receive the body and the blood of Jesus Christ, through the act of eating the bread, which symbolises Christ’s body, and by drinking the wine, said to be his blood. This sacrament originates back to

The Holy Spirit plays a very vital role in the lives of each and every believer; He can strengthen us with a strength that we cannot even begin to muster up in ourselves. He can bring us joy that we cannot even begin to find in the things of this world. He can bring peace to our lives more than anything that we can ever find on this earth. “The Holy Spirit which is primarily an energizing process, is also a revealing, refining, consuming, illuminating process, and one by which we are made to glow with love to God, and love to man, and love to souls.”