Christianity Practices

• Prayer


  How Christians communicate with God, through both talking and listening and being open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit
• Prayer


  A two-way method of communication that gives Christians comfort as they feel that God is listening and may send messages back
• There are four main types of worship that Christians can engage in:

  • Liturgical worship
  • Non-liturgical worship
  • Informal worship
  • Private worship

  Christians can be involved in all four of these forms of worship. Examples of activities that may take place at some or all of these forms of worship are readings from the Holy Bible, prayers and the Eucharist.

  Sunday is regarded by Christians as the Sabbath because Jesus' resurrection happened on a Sunday. It is also a reminder to Christians that God rested on the seventh day of creation. Most churches have their main service on a Sunday morning.
• Liturgical worship is a church service that follows a set pattern of prayers and readings, usually found in a printed book.

  Christians who participate in liturgical services may feel connected to other worshippers as they are following the same traditions.

  As a congregation, Christians often participate together, repeating key information and singing hymns.
• Jesus spoke often about the importance of prayer, as he felt it deepened a person's relationship with God
• Many Christians believe that prayer can bring them closer to God
• Non-liturgical worship is more informal and has less structure, and the elements can be tailored to different types of services. For example, the sermon could be on a topical theme, and prayers could be in the service leader’s own words rather than those written in a book.
• Formal written prayers


  • Often memorised in order to be recited both publicly and privately
  • Example: The Lord's Prayer, which was the prayer that Jesus taught his followers when they asked him to pray
• The Lord's Prayer


  Can be found in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer
• Informal worship


  Focuses on the adoration of God and is not always carried out in a church. Often, large auditoriums are used. Frequently the music used during informal worship is popular and modern in style, and instruments are commonly used.
• Informal prayers


  • Personal and allow individuals to connect with God
• Private worship is informal and often takes place at home, but it can be liturgical or non-liturgical.

  Some examples of private worship are saying grace before a meal or reading a passage from the Bible each day.

  Worshipping alone can allow a person to feel close to God. Private worship can be an opportunity for Christians to explore a personal, individual connection with God.
• Charismatic worship


  A kind of informal worship. Although Charismatic services have recognisable Christian features, such as prayers and readings, they are very free-flowing services.
• Informal worship


  • People often believe that the Holy Spirit is present and allowing them to carry out God's wishes, so the services can be quite spontaneous
  • Evangelical Christians usually worship in this style and may clap or shout during a service at any point, as they worship God with their whole body, not just their minds
• Quakers' worship


  They hold meetings, rather than services, in meeting houses. These meetings last about an hour and have no set hymns, prayers or sermons. There is no leader in the meeting house and the chairs are usually arranged in a circle. Everyone worships as an equal.
• Quakers' worship


  1. Spend most of the meeting in silence as this kind of worship is seen as a time for connection with God and with others

  2. If someone wishes to stand up and speak, they are free to do so as part of this informal worship
• ACTS


  Acronym to remember four key components found in many formal prayers
• Four key components in formal prayers


  • Adoration
  • Confession
  • Thanksgiving
  • Supplication
• Adoration


  Praising God, eg "Dear God, I know that you are all-loving..."
• Confession


  Saying sorry, eg "Please forgive me for the horrible things I have said about..."
• Sacrament


  A ceremony through which Christians believe they receive God's grace or are brought closer to God
• Thanksgiving


  Thanking God, eg "Thank you for the amazing weather this week..."
• A sacrament is something that people can engage in with their senses but that has a deeper meaning too
• Sacraments for Protestants


  • Baptism
  • Eucharist
• Supplication


  Asking for something, eg "Give me strength to..."
• Baptism


  Makes a Christian a member of God's family
• All four of the gospels mention Jesus carrying out both baptism and the Eucharist
• Intercession


  Praying for someone who may be ill, eg "Please remember my cousin, who is ill, and help them to heal after their operation."
• Infant baptism


  • Babies are baptised
  • Involves total immersion for Orthodox Christians
  • Involves making the sign of the cross on the baby's head using oil and using holy water on the forehead for other denominations
• Believers' baptism


  Baptism that occurs once somebody is an adult, as it is then that the individual can accept Christianity for themselves
• Baptism


  Important because Jesus was baptised, and after his resurrection he told his disciples that they should be baptised too
• Jesus: '"baptise in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit"'
• Five forms of prayer


  • Adoration
  • Confession
  • Thanksgiving
  • Supplication
  • Intercession
• Believers' baptism


  1. Person being baptised walks down into a pool

  2. Is fully submerged three times

  3. Walks out into their new life
• Baptism service


  1. Promises made by godparents on behalf to the child to reject evil

  2. Priest gives a lit candle to the child's guardians to keep for the child, which symbolises receiving the light of Christ
• Eucharist


  Also known as Holy Communion, a sacrament that commemorates the Last Supper
• John 3:5: '"No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit."'
• Catholics and Orthodox Christians, who place more importance on the bread and wine than other denominations, hold Eucharists more often than other denominations, such as Methodists. This is because they see it as an essential way of sustaining their relationship with God.

  Catholics are given bread by the priest and wine from a shared cup, whereas Orthodox Christians take the bread and wine from the same spoon.
• ACTS and I


  Collective term for the five forms of prayer
• Believers' baptism


  • Two pastors fully submerge a man during his believers' baptism