Infant Baptism

The definition of "christening" or "to christen" is to baptize.  For a christening cermony many people usually dress their children in a white gown called a "christening gown".  It is a naval tradition to baptize children using a ship's bell as a baptismal font and to engrave their names on the naval bell afterwards.  Water is poured on the head of the baby held over the baptismal font.  Some Christian churches do not baptize infants, however.  Instead, they dedicate the babies to the Lord.   Then, when the children are older and accept Jesus as their Savior, they are baptized in a pool or a beach just like Jesus.

The Fish Symbol

The fish is a Christian symbol which got its origin after Jesus rose into Heaven. The new Christians were being persecuted and even died because of their faith. The christians devised a way to secretly signal other Christians or, if just meeting someone, to find out if that person were also a believer by simply taking their foot and casually drawing an arc with their toe on the ground. Then, if the other person was a Christian, he, just as causally, would draw an ark with his toe to complete the fish. Now, they could speak to each other about their faith without worrying. In addition, Jesus asked the Christians to be his fishers of men. So the fish is a proud symbol of who they are.

Jesus
Christians believe that God is three beings in one -- God, the Father; God, the Son; and God, the Holy Spirit.  It is said that Jesus who is God, the son, came to earth as a child and was born in Bethlehem. His parents, Joseph and Mary raised him as a carpenter. Jesus never sinned. The religious rulers didn't like Jesus, especially when he called himself the Son of God. As Jesus grew he became an incredible miracle worker for those who were faithful and believed in Jesus Christ. Eventually the religious rulers  persuaded the people of Jeruselm to crucify Jesus. Jesus died on a Friday and rose on a Sunday. Christians now celebrate a holiday called Easter in celebration of Jesus' ressurection.

Watch this video: http://books.jesuslifetogether.com/Who-is-Jesus-Christ?gclid=CPqn0uvHx7ACFQbznAodWRB_Wg

The Bible
Christians believe that the Holy Bible is the word of God.The bible is a collection of 66 books. These books include history, drama, poetry, letters, laws, and stories of people's lives. There are two main sections of the bible  called the New Testament and The Old Testament. The meaning of the word 'testament' is agreement or promise.

The Old Testament tells the story of the creations of God and his promise to Abraham and his descendants, the Jewish people. The promise was that if the obeyed the laws of God he would always love and protect the Jewish people.

The New Testament is about God's new promise. He sent his only begotten son, Jesus into the world to offer forgiveness and a new life to everyone who believes and trusts in him. The New Testament tells the story of Jesus' life. The New Testament ends with a prophecy saying that Jesus is coming again.

Places Christianity is Practiced
Many countries practice Christianity. Here are some examples:
Andorra, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Bahamas, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark,Finland, Greece, Haiti, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Georgia, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Vatican City and Venezuela.

Easter And Good Friday

Good Friday is celebrated because it was the day that Jesus died on cross.  He died because his religous teachings were upsetting the Romans and the religous authorites so he was set to be crucified. Easter Sunday was the the third day he rose again.  Easter is followed by a 40 day and 40 night period.

Christmas

Christmas is an anual holiday in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ celebrated on December 25th.  This holiday is a religious holiday created by Christians but many atheists celebrate this holiday as well. Jesus was born during the year of 0bc. Christmas in Eastern Christianity was origianlly celebrated in January , in connection with Epiphany. January 6 is still the date for the American Apostolic Church and in Aremnia, where this is a public holiday. During Christmas there are many different traditions such as: caroling, gift giving and  exchanging of christmas cards, and decorating a christmas tree.

Branches of Christianity

After Jesus died his followers built a church to pray to him. "Church" means a group of Christians who worship together. The Roman Catholic church is the oldest branch of Western Christianity. There are many branches of Orthodox Christianity. The two largest groups are Russian orthodox and Greek orthodox. Most Orthodox christians  live  in the eastern parts of the world but there are many Orthodox christians living in Western Europe and America. The Protestant churches are the churches or groups in Western christianity that are not Roman Catholic. The word "protestant" comes from the sixteenth century when some people protested about things which they felt were wrong in the Roman Catholic church at the time.

Place and Form of Worship

Christians worship in churches.  The word "church" means a group of Christians who worship together. Christians usually come together in a communal worship on Sunday or Saturday.  Most meet on Sundays because they believe that was they day Jesus resurrected from his death. At church Christians would read stories from the Bible and sing gospel and other songs found in the hymnal. A person called the pastor or the bishop lectures you on how to become stronger through Jesus Christ. There are many congregational prayers in a Christian church including thanksgiving, confession and intercession, and the Lord's Prayer.

Christianity Over View