Being Christian

What is a Christian?

Christians are people who have responded to the good news brought by Jesus Christ, believing that in Jesus, God has come among us, sharing our joy and pain, and bringing the offer of new life and wholeness to us and our world.

Who is Jesus?

Christians speak of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. During Jesus’ earthly life, over 2000 years ago, many people found in him

• a new closeness to God;
• forgiveness of their sin and failure;
• the beginnings of life in abundance.

This still happens today. Jesus accepted death on the cross for us, has been raised to new life at Easter, and has sent the Holy Spirit to strengthen and encourage us. Christians respond to him with faith.

Where is Jesus Today?

• Jesus encounters us in our prayer and worship of God, privately and as a community of the church, and we attempt to show the new life this brings us;

• through reading the Bible, especially the New Testament.

What is the Church?

Being a Christian means being baptized into the church, which is the body of Jesus Christ in the world today. We share communion with Christ and with one another in the Eucharist, the family meal of the Christian community.

What is Baptism?

We begin our Christian journey by being baptized with water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We are brought into a new and intimate relationship with God the Father by the coming of Jesus Christ and through the work of the Holy Spirit. The God we know and worship is Father, Son and Spirit: one God in three persons; the Holy Trinity.

Christians are followers of Jesus Christ. They are people of faith, hope and love; sharing in God’s work to bring into this created world the peace, justice and wholeness that God intends for it.

The above statements were formulated by The Anglican Diocese of Brisbane.