Christian Jargon Explained

Advent – A season of preparation leading up to Christmas and the celebration of Jesus’s coming at his birth or incarnation.  Advent serves as a time for Christians to prepare their hearts in celebration and to look forward to Jesus’ second coming. 

Baptism – Many churches extend an invitation to new Christians to consider being baptised, a special celebration of our acceptance of a life in Christ and commitment to loving and serving God. Following the model of Jesus’ own baptism (read Matthew 3:13-17), the baptism service often involves sprinkling or immersion in water.

Some churches, typically Pentecostal churches, also believe that there can be a second encounter with God after water baptism, in which God pours out special gifts on the believer through the Holy Spirit. This is sometimes described as the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit”

For more information check out our in-depth look at Baptism.

Bible / Holy Bible – The Holy Bible as used by the Christian church, contains two sections – the New and Old Testaments. The books of the Old Testament share the story of God and God’s people from creation and before the coming of Jesus, while the New Testament shares the story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, and the early years of the church.  The New Testament contains four ‘gospels’ or stories of Jesus attributed to four different authors, along with a host of letters from early church leaders such as Paul, writing to the first churches. There are many different versions of the bible, based on different approaches to translation from the original Hebrew and Ancient Greek languages, and different source documents available to the translators. The New International Version and New Living Translation are two commonly used versions of the Bible within Australia. The King James Version is one of the earliest English language translations of the Bible.

Denomination – It can sometimes help to think of a denomination as being like a brand. Just as there are many brands of cars (Toyota, Ford, VW, Kia and so on), there are different “brands” or denominations of churches. Some examples include Catholic, Anglican, Uniting, Baptist, Church of Christ and so on. Each different denomination, while agreeing on the core Christian beliefs, will hold slightly different interpretations of some aspects of Christianity, and will also organise themselves differently when it comes to leadership and governance. Some denominations are widespread nationally, with hundreds or even thousands of local Churches, while others are smaller. There are also independent churches, who are self-organised and don’t belong to a denomination at all.

Discipleship – Discipleship is the process of learning and growing to be like Jesus. To be a Christian is to be a disciple of Jesus – to commit oneself to learning and modelling life on that of Jesus Chrrist. The process of discipleship can involve personal study and learning, one-on-one mentoring, small group studies and even whole-of-church learning through workshops, sermons and special events. Christians can be described as “living out their discipleship” when those things we’ve learned about modelling our lives after Jesus’ own life are put into practice.

Eucharist – See “Holy Communion”

House church – While most local churches meet in purpose-built church buildings or community facilities like halls or schools, some smaller christian communities choose to meet in homes and houses. Typically smaller, and self-organising, house churches are informal, local communities of faith. Some house-churches participate in loose networks to help with accountability and support. House churches can sometimes be known as simple churches, or missional communities.

Holy Communion – A special rite of the church, celebrated in almost all Christian church denominations. Commemorates the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples before he died, in which he outlined a new covenantal relationship between God and people. Usually involves a symbolic meal including small pieces of bread or wafer, and grape juice (or in some cases, wine), with special words and prayers. Also referred to as The Lord’s Supper or The Eucharist.

Hymn – Hymns are songs used in the context of a church service. Usually they’re older style songs, containing several verses and sometimes a chorus. Even if you’ve not been in many church services you might be familiar with classic hymns like Amazing Grace, or When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.

Kingdom of God – The phrase ‘Kingdom of God’ is one often used in the bible, and in churches today. It’s a recognition by Christians that God is ruler of all (or King, to use that very human metaphor), and that God’s “kingdom” has certain characteristics. Jesus taught a great deal about what God’s kingdom would be like. Some Christians use the term Kingdom of God to describe God’s eternal Kingdom, while others think of God’s kingdom as being here and now. EIther way of thinking about the Kingdom of God is ok, and can help us.

Lent – Lent is a special season in the Christian calendar, and involves the 40 days leading up to Easter Thursday. It commences with Ash Wednesday and some churches include special days of prayer or fasting. Lent is a time when Christians are preparing to celebrate Easter, that time with Jesus was crucified, died and was resurrected. The day before Lent begins is often celebrated as Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day.

Lord’s Supper – See “Holy Communion”

Messiah – Messiah literally means “annointed one” or “chosen one”. Within Christianity it refers to the understanding that Jesus was the one anointed or chosen to bring about the salvation of all humanity through restored relationship with God. Jesus, the Son of God, is understood by the Church to be the Messiah. He acknowledged this himself in an encounter with a Samaritan woman at a well (at story told in John 4).

Mission – The Christian church is called to share in the mission of God – the renewal and reconciliation of all things to God.. Australian missiologist Michael Frost describes mission as the “demonstration and declaration of the reign of God in Christ” – that is to say that mission includes both sharing or proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, but also acts of love, justice, grace and mercy that demonstrate God’s kingdom values. Some local churches use the word mission to mean evangelism, while others will take this broader view that Frost points to.

Ordination – Many Christian churches identify, train and set apart ministers, priests and pastors to provide spiritual and theological leadership to the church. Ordination is the name given to this process of setting someone apart to provide such leadership. Different denominations have different approaches to ordination, including varied training processes. Some denominations train and then ordain ministers for life, while others ordain a minister/pastor/priest only for the period in which they are serving in a particular local church. Some denominations and independent churches don’t practise ordination at all. An ordained minister/priest/pastor will often have a title of Reverend or Father applied to their name.

Pentecost – The Day of Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after Easter, and commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit. The story of the first Pentecost is told in Acts 2. In some churches this day is celebrated as the beginning of the Christian church.

Sin – When Christians talk about Sin, we refer to those things we do that separate us from the love of God. Sin is a word translated from the ancient Greek word that literally means “missing the mark” – a word borrowed from archery. Sin, those things we do that we shouldn’t, or don’t do that we should, can cause us to experience being separated from God and God’s love because we literally miss the mark.. Forgiveness of sin is a significant part of the Christian faith – knowing that even when we sin, God will forgive us if we “repent” (or acknowledge and apologise) from the ways we’ve failed.

Theology – Theology, put simply, is the study of God. It comes from two words “Theos” meaning God, and Logos, meaning word. Theology literally translates as ‘words about God’. In a formal sense, the study of theology takes place in bible colleges, seminaries and theological colleges. But theology, the study of God, is for all of us. We can all study God, learn about God, understand our world or our own lives better in the light of what we learn about God. This is practical, or applied theology.

Worship – Worship, when used in the context of the Christian community, means to pay honour to God. Most commonly the word is used to describe organised church services (or worship services) in which the church community gathers together to pray, sing, learn and pay glory and tribute to all that God is. Other Christians believe that Worship can, as well as being a corporate act, be something that we do individually – that we worship God by living according to the values and practices of God’s kingdom.