Sydney Christianity

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Introduction
Christianity is the largest religion in the world with over two billion adherents. This massive and
influential religion makes up more than third of the worlds population. T Their beliefs and
practices started in the first century CE. They are one of the three monotheistic religions in the
world, meaning that they believe in one true god. This religion like many other is Semitic. That
states the fact that their beliefs originated in the middle eastern area. Their faiths are most
popular in Europe, North America, South America, and Australia. The Christian teaching is
based on teachings of Jesus Christ whom they believe to be the savior or messiah. Even
though there are a multitude of branches or denominations of Christianity their faith is all driven
by one belief that, God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to earth to save us from our sins. He was
killed on cross then miraculously rose three days later. By dying the Christians believe that
Jesus paid the sacrifice for them allowing them to be freed from sin. They are free from their
sins. These particular events happened in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is known as the holy land for
pilgrimages and is popular for pilgrimages or worship. Christianity is the only religion in the
world to have their god come down to die for its people.
The life of Jesus
Jesus Christ was the Messiah of the world. He was sent by God to earth. Mary and Joseph
were chosen to be his parents by God. In Gods eyes the soon to be wed couple would be the
right people to raise his one and only son. He sent an angel called Gabriel to tell Marry one
night that she would be the mother of Jesus. When Mary saw the Angel she was very frightened
but the Angel told her not to worry and that he brings news of joy. She would give birth to a baby
called Jesus. Just as God had planned Mary became pregnant. Jesus was later born in
Bethlehem. This is known as the virgin birth. After he spent his life as a child and young adult in
Nazareth. His father, Joseph, passed down his skill of carpenter to his son. Jesus knew all along
that he had been put on earth for a reason. When he was thirty years old. He left and recruited a
group of twelve apostles, more commonly known as the twelve disciples. He taught these men
for three years on how to live their life as God had told them too. He also taught them everything
he knew about the faith so that they could share it with others. He healed the sick and
performed many other miracles that which became very well known. Later as Jesus became
more and more popular the king at the time became more and more angry with him. And with
that he was sentenced to death on a cross. He was forced to carry a heavy wooden cross a
many miles to the place that he would be sentenced to death. Before being nailed to the cross
Jesus was beaten, flogged and humiliated. A crown of thorns was also put upon his head. He
was then nailed between two criminals who were also being crucified at the time. He died there.
After he was crucified on the cross he was put in a tomb with a large stone rolled in front it.
Three days later, Jesus rose again and spent forty days on earth. After he went to heaven to be
with his father God. No one knows what Jesus would have looked like. Though we can
sumarize by what we know he probably would have looked like the average Jew of his time. He
most likely wore sandals and had dark eyes with dark skin. Like most of the people at the time
he wore robes over his body.

Celebrations and Festivals

The Christian faith has many special days honoring God and his son Jesus. The two major
celebrations are Christmas and Easter. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus's birth. This
holiday is held every year on the 25th December. Mary and Joseph, Jesuss parents, had to
come to Jerusalem once every year as law. While they were there the city was so crowded and
every single to place to stay was booked. Because of that Mary and Jesus had no choice but to
stay in a stable with all the animals. Mary gave birth to Jesus there. An angel called Gabriel told
some shepherds that the Messiah would come to Jerusalem and be born in a manger. There
also was a prophecy that the three wise men had heard about the Messiah being born on that
very night. It was said that a star would hover above the place the messiah was born. The wise
three wise men followed the star. They presented the Messiah with gifts and other things from
lands full of riches.
Easter is the time of new life. It helps Christians remember when Jesus rose from the dead after
three days of being dead. Easter is when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Another very important holiday for Christians is Palm Sunday. Palm sunday is the Sunday
before Easter. It commemorates when Jesus came into Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The
people laid Palm tree leafs on the ground before they donkey he was riding stepped onto it.
Rituals and Practices
Christians believe that there are ten commandments from God. These are meant to be followed
to live your life as the best Christian you can be. The ten commandments are as follows: thou
shalt not have any other gods before me, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, thou
shalt not take the of the Lord thy God in vain, Remember the Sabbath day and to keep it holy,
honor thy father and thy mother, thou shalt not kill, thou shat not commit adultery, thou shalt not
steal, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor and thou shalt not covet.
On the first Sunday of every month Christians take part in what they call Communion or Holy
Communion. This is used to acknowledge the memory of Jesus with his disciples at the last
supper. Before Jesus died he shared bread and wine with his friends. He said that the bread
was his body and the wine his blood. The wine and bread at the ceremony is blessed by the
Priest. For Catholic Christians a child's first communion is a celebration. For them to taken
communion they have to have taken classes beforehand. For different people communion Has
different meanings.
Another Practice is baptism. Catholic Christians do this to their children when they are only an
infant. Other denominations believe that this should be of choice when the person is ready to be
fully a believer of God and his son Jesus. Baptism is a symbolic act of a person being dunked
sprinkled with water. This symbolizes a fresh clean new life. Jesus was also baptized by a very
well-known man of the time called John the Baptist. He preceded with the same method of
baptizing only back in the l century ce. They had to baptize people in rivers. Jesus was baptized
in the Jordan river.
General Beliefs
Even though the Christian community can be quite diverse, there a certain set of beliefs that
drive their faith. They believe in one god, God. here are three elements to this God, called the
Trinity. God the father, God the son, God the holy spirit. They believe that God the father is fully

eternal. He was the creator of us and the universe and everything that surrounds us. God is
everywhere he sees everything and he knows everything. They believe that Jesus is the son of
God. whom is also known as Christ. Every Christian when they die will go to heaven to be with
God or to Hell. Once you die your soul and the holy spirit inside you lives on. The Christians
believe that one Dejesus way will be king. A very important part of christianity is the holy spirit.
Christians believe that a little part of God live within you and he acts as a kind of your
conscience. It will always be apart of you and will be there to tell you what things you should or
should not do. Lastly Christians believe that one day Jesus will return to be king over the
eternity of our mortal earth. This event that Christians are hopefully awaiting is called the
second coming.
Places of Worship
For Christians worship can be taken place anywhere. Though there are certain places and
certain days specifically dedicated for the worship of God. A church or cathedral, either one
christians worship god in every Sunday. The Priest, minister, pastor, vicar are people who would
lead a service of worship. Prayer can be done at anytime, anywhere about anything.
Christians also commonly say a prayer before their evening meal and before they go to bed. A
prayer can be done by repeating an already written prayer or by making up your own. Some
adults may also choose to join a bible study where they can be with other people to discuss God
and study his scripture together
Sacred Book and Objects
For Christians there is very few sacred objects but the few that they do have are very important.
The Bible, which is believed to be divinely inspired by God and in Gods own words. God wants
all of his follwers to read the words he was provided them with. There are 66 books in this
massive collection of stories and scripture. The Bible is divided into two parts, the old testament
and the new testament. The old testament contains thirty-nine books about life before Jesus
walked the earth. The new testament are all the books after Jesus was born. These stories and
pieces of scripture are focused on Jesus, his miracles, relationships, and things he did and said
while he was alive. The new testament was only finished aroud 400 ce. There was 500 years
between the writing of the old and new testament. Within the new testament are the Gospels
because they talk about Jesus and his life. The Bible has historically accurate information as
well as stories and lessons to help Christians even today. Some people devote their whole lives
to studying the Bible and becoming Bible scholars. Bibles come in all sizes and themes and
versions but the true message of the words stays the same. Some variations of the Bible
include the NIV, ESV and KJV. There are more copies of the bible made than any other book.
As of November 2014 the full Bible has been translated into 531 languages and 2,883
languages have at least some portion of the Bible.
Symbols
Christians have a few very common symbols. Some people chose to wear these symbols
around as a sign that they support Christianity. The cross is probably one of the most wellknown religious symbols out there. To Christians the cross reminds that Jesus has died on the
cross to save them from their sins. It also is used to remember the pain and the suffering Jesus
went through to save them. A dove is a symbol of peace and a great symbol of the holy spirit as
well. Moses is often also shown holding a dove. victory and martyrdom. Palms are especially

made use of on Palm Sunday. The ashes of palms used on Palm Sunday are later set fire to
and they are and used on the next year's Ash Wednesday to symbolize mortality and penance.
The Evangelist's Cross has four steps at the bottom of the cross. Each step represents math
mark Luke and John.
Conclusion
Christianity is a very complex religion with a multitude of symbols and beliefs. Even though
there are so many denominations of this vast religion, all the denominations share many
common practices and values that shape this faith built on beliefs that are centuries old.