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SACRAMENTS
Outward signs of an invisible grace.
1. BAPTISM is the event
that starts spiritual life through membership in the Church. Infant Baptism
allows parents/God-parents to accept responsibility for child until
Confirmation through their acceptance of Jesus in their life. [Mt 28:19-20;
Mk 16:15-16, Lk 5:17-26]
2. COMMUNION, also EUCHARIST,
is the remembrance of Jesus’ Last Supper. Our faith converts bread to the
Body and wine to the Blood of our Savior. We consume as He directed.
[Mt 26:26-28; Mk 14:22-25; Lk 22:19-20; Jn 6 all; 1 Cor 10:16; and 11:27]
3. RECONCILIATION, also
CONFESSION, is an event through which one admits sins and hears God’s
forgiveness and Biblical counsel for improvement. General reconciliation is
part of the Mass, but special counseling is
available from the pastor upon request. [2 Cor 5:16-20;
Jms 5:16; 1 Jn 1:9]
4. CONFIRMATION is an event
through which one confirms the affirmations made by parents and sponsors
during infant Baptism. It is also the “altar call” experience in
which, by the Holy Spirit, we learn how to enter into an intimate relationship
with Jesus by the use of the gifts and fruits of the Spirit. Quinceañeras are conducted as Confirmation rites.
[Jn 3 & 14:25-26]
5. MATRIMONY, also MARRIAGE,
the event through which a couple receive understanding of how to live
together forever as husband and wife in the same intimacy as Christ and the
Church. Remarriage is administered without judgment.
[Gen 2:24; Mt 19:6 cf; Mk 10:11-12]
6. ANOINTING OF THE SICK. It is through
this sacrament that one can be healed physically, but most certainly
spiritually (by faith) through a deeper focus on the love of our Lord. [Mt
10:8; Mk 16:17-18; Jms 5:14-15]
7. HOLY ORDERS, also
ORDINATION, is the sacrament through which deacons, priests
and bishops are installed for service of the faithful. Apostolic
Succession, which traces the lines of consecration of a bishop back to the
Apostles, is maintained in this Church. As in the Roman Catholic
Church, the priest serves the bishop by helping the local
community enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Our clergy can be and often are married. [1 Tim
3:1-13; Tit 1:6-9; Acts 6:6; Eph 4:11-13]
BELIEFS
THE BIBLE is the inspired
and inerrant word of God available in many translations and used to teach
and equip. [2 Tim 3:16-17]
FAITH is the only way
to understand and receive our salvation. [Eph 2:8-9]
THE TRINITY is the
description of 1 God in 3 Persons, God the Father who is attributed
with creation, God the Son who is our redeemer, and God the Holy Spirit who
is the life of the Church. [Mt 28:19]
THE CREEDS are Statements
of fundamental Christian beliefs developed by the first seven Councils of
the Church known as the Apostle's, Nicene, and Athenasian Creeds.
These explain our faith in plain, simple, and uncomplicated manners;
Bible summary.
THE COMMANDMENTS are basic guides
for living sound moral lives in our relationships with God and neighbors in
the form of Ten Commandments, and are fulfilled by Jesus’ command of love.
[Mt 22:37-40]
THE CHURCH is the body of
believers in Jesus Christ, Christ being the head. The Catholic Charismatic
church is a branch of the one, holy, catholic (universal), and apostolic
Church. [Eph 2:19-22; 5:23-24]
SIN is any unloving
act against God’s creation that separates us from God. Confessing our sin
brings God’s forgiveness by our faith in Christ’s death on the cross
accomplished 2,000 years ago. [1 Jn 1:9]
SATAN is the accuser
of mankind who lies, cheats, kills, steals, and destroys through confusion
of the truth. He is a defeated being who has as much power over our
will as we allow him to have. God’s infinite love for us allows us
free will choice between His love and Satan's lies. [Jn 8:32]
SALVATION is the redemption from eternal
punishment, to an eternal life of glory with God, not by works, but by
faith in the grace of God trough the atoning death of Jesus Christ. [Eph
2:8-9]
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