CHRISTIANITY

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CHRISTIANITY
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JESUS CHRIST
 4 Main Themes to His teaching:
 God’s rule is more important than anything else in life.

 God cares for all.

1. like a shepherd
2. like a careful housewife
3. like a father

 God’s true children are those who love as He loves.

 God’s love is present, in a special way, in the person of

Jesus
• A warrior king

• A miraculous deliverer
 The Jewish religious authorities were
already hostile towards Jesus.

 They resented the teaching which Jesus gave

to the people.

 Jesus appeared to be careless about religious

customs.

 Jesus criticized the religious teachers.

 Jesus is the Christ

 Jesus is God’s chosen Servant

 Jesus is the divine Lord

 Jesus is the Son of God

 Jesus is the Word of God

Why did Jesus die?
The word CHURCH has two
meanings in English.

o It can mean the building in which

Christians worship.

o And it may also mean a group of

Christians who worship and meet
together.
The apostles believe that people must receive
gifts of Jesus Christ by faith. People must
respond to the living Jesus themselves, with
love and with trust, in order to enjoy the gifts
which he offers them.

‘If on your lips is the confession, “Jesus is

Lord”, and in your heart the faith that God
raised him from dead, then you will find
salvation. Faith is awakened by the message,
and the message that awakens it comes
through the word of Christ.’
From the earliest time Christians
have made it their chief task to tell
the story of Christ to others. They
call this story ‘the Gospel’ which
means ‘the good news’. It is news
about God’s forgiveness and about
the new power which the Spirit of
God can give to Christian believers.
 Growth of the Church

 From Jewish Palestine into the Roman

Empire (about AD 30-100)

 The Establishment of the Church in Southern

Europe (about AD 100-313)

 The Eastern Churches and the Advance into

Asia (about AD 100-1400)

 Further Growth.
 The Churches
 The Eastern Churches
These Churches are closely linked by their history
to the first Churches in Palestine and Syria.

 The Orthodox Churches

These Churches are linked with the Greek

civilization which enriched the countries at the
eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea.
 The Roman Catholic Church
This great Church of 580 million people preserves
much of the Latin civilization of the Roman empire.

 The Reformed Churches

During the 16th century, many attempted to reform the life of
the Church. They no longer recognize the authority of the
Pope.
 The Pentecostal and Independent Churches
These Churches are in all parts of the world and are
increasing in number. They emphasize the authority of the
Spirit of God.
1.The Way and the Spirit
One of the first names which other people gave to
the Christian community was the name ‘the
followers of the Way’. This name shows that they
thought of Christians as people who followed a
particular ‘way of life ’. This ‘way of life’ marked
them out as different from their neighbors.
Christians learnt this Way from the apostles. The
apostles taught them the words of Jesus and the
Way in which they should live if they wished to be
His disciple.
2. The Scriptures
All Christians recognize the authority
of the Scriptures, i.e. the writings
contained in the Bible. They believe
that they were given to the Church by
the will of God. This writings are
divided into two parts. The Old and
New Testament.
3. The Bathing and The Meal
1. Baptism
All over the world, people use water in religious
ceremonies as the means and a sign of cleansing.
The English words ‘baptize’ and ‘baptism’ come
from a Greek word meaning ‘to dip in water’, and
so ‘to bathe’.
John the Baptist, who was the forerunner of
Jesus, preached that men should prepare
themselves by repentance for the coming of God’s
kingdom. John lived near the Jordan river, and he
used its water to bathe his followers as a public
sign of their repentance.
2. Meal
All over the world, groups of friends meet
together for conversation and fellowship, and
to share a meal together.
Among the Jews, at the time of Jesus, groups
of men often did this on the evenings before
Sabbath days or religious festivals. In the
course of the meeting they would share a loaf
of bread and a cup of wine together. Before
they did this, the president of the group would
say ‘grace’, thanking God for the bread and the
wine.
4. Statements of Belief (Creeds)

5. The Ministers of the Church

6. Popular Christianity
The Christian
Because there are many different churches, it is
not easy to define exactly what ordinary
Christians believe and think about their
religion.
a. Christians worship God as the great Creator of the world, and
pay to Him as ‘Our Father in Heaven’. They believe that He has
the whole world in His care, and that He will bring the world
to a good end.
b. They worship Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as one with
God the Father. They declare their faith in this respect in one
of the Creeds.
c. They believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who came into’ the
world to rescue them from the power of evil and to make
them God’s children. They believe that He died in order to do
this, and so they feel love towards Him. They believe that He
is alive, and so they honour Him as Lord.
d. They believe that God has chosen special ways by which to
reveal His will to the world, and they believe that they know
His will through the Bible.
e. They join in service of Holy Communion, and believe that
through the bread and the wine they come into close touch
with Jesus.
f. They believe that the spirit of God helps and guides people.
Some Christians feel and know His influence very strongly.
g. They try to follow the teaching of Jesus, and they know that
they should love other people because He has taught them to
do so. Many try to express this love in particular ways.
h. They accept the leaders of their Church as people who have
authority to teach them, both men and women, are willing
to give their whole lives in the ministry of the Church.
i. They also follow the popular practice which has become part
of the life of their own local Church.
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Thank You!