The Christian Faith
This section of the website provides more extended teaching on larger content areas, such as the Creed and the Sacraments. It begins with Introduction·to the Christian Faith. More content will be added in due course.
The section entitled Short Talks comprises stand-alone talks and articles on different aspects of the Christian Faith, including the teaching of Jesus, the seasons of the Church’s Year and Feasts and Festivals.·
Baptism: The child of God, inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven
God's promise to Abraham
As you know, Jesus and his Apostles were Jews and belonged to the Jewish people. The Jews were neither a large nor a powerful nation, but there was one thing which made them more important than all the large and powerful nations put together: God himself, the Lord of the Universe, had chosen them to be his own special people. This actually happened about the year 2100 BC when God made his promise to Abraham: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, … and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (NRSV, Genesis 12:2,3).
Read more: Baptism: The child of God, inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven
Baptism: Renouncing the Devil and all his works
In the Prayer Book Baptismal Service, the candidates (or godparents on behalf of a baby) are asked if they “renounce the devil and all his works”. (1) In the Common Worship Service, the candidates (or parents and godparents on behalf of a baby) are asked:
“Do you reject the devil and all rebellion against God?”
“Do you renounce the deceit and corruption of evil?” (2)
Baptism: Pomps and vanity
The Prayer Book Catechism refers to the Baptismal promise to renounce not only the Devil and all his works, but also the “pomps and vanity” of the world and all the “sinful lusts of the flesh”. (1)
Happiness
You can buy most things, if you have the money. But you cannot buy the one thing which people want more than anything else – happiness. You can imagine what a queue there would be if there was a shop here where they were selling happiness.