Sometimes, people that have gone to church for a long time start using
words and phrases that can be quite confusing to other people. We've
compiled a list of words that may have a different meaning that you are
used to. If you ever hear someone at church say something that you
don't understand, please ask us to explain.
| "Churchy" Word |
What We Really Mean |
| baptism |
a public action where a person is
immersed in water by another person, symbolizing the burial of Jesus (going
under the water) and his resurrection (coming up out of the water); baptism
publically identifies a person as having a relationship with Jesus Christ
|
| believe |
trust, accept |
| Bible |
the book of books, a set of smaller books
compiled into one big book that God wrote through inspired men many years
ago; we believe that everything in the Bible is true and that it provides
incredible wisdom to help us live our lives |
| Bible verse, scripture reference |
a set of words in the Bible that is
referenced by the name of a book, a chapter number and a verse number. For
example, John 3:16 refers to the 16th verse of the 3rd chapter of the book
of John. In most Bibles, you can find the starting page number for each
book in the front of the Bible. |
| born again, converted, saved |
your life is changed when you
believe that Jesus died for you and you turn away from doing wrong things |
| Christian |
a follower of Jesus Christ;
one who has been "born again" (see above) |
| communion, Lord's supper |
another public symbol (like baptism) done
on a regular basis to help us remember the death of Jesus Christ, who died
for our sins; the "bread" represents the body of Jesus which was broken
and the "grape juice" represents his blood that was poured out during
his death on the cross via crucifixion |
| confess |
admitting to God that you have
done wrong things |
| crucifixion |
a method used by the Romans in the 1st century
AD to kill people; a person was literally nailed to a cross and left to die;
Jesus was crucified because he claimed to be the Son of God (which he was) |
| grace |
the forgiveness of our sins that only God
can give to us - we can't earn it |
| gospel |
literally "good news"; God loved us so much
that he sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins so that we
can live with him in heaven forever |
| have a burden |
be concerned spiritually for someone else |
| Holy Spirit |
The Holy Spirit is the 3rd person of the
Godhead. But what does that mean? The Bible makes it clear that God is one
God, who exists in 3 distinct persons. This is known as the Trinity.
The Holy Spirit lives with and in every Christian, and empowers
Christians to please God, something they could not do by themselves. |
| Lord |
another name for God or Jesus; especially
used when you want to stress how God/Jesus should control your life |
| ministry |
a program offered by a church that meets a
specific spiritual or emotional need, usually of a particular age group |
| missions, missionary |
leaving your home to go somewhere else (such
as another country) to tell the people there about Jesus |
| offering |
giving money to God through a local church to
be used to help people know more about God, to assist people who have
financial or other need, and to support the programs provided by the church |
| praise |
saying (or singing) words that describe how
great God is and what great things he has done in the past |
| prayer |
talking with God, asking God to help you in
some way |
| preach |
giving a speech usually in church about a
topic related to God and the Bible |
| repent, repentance |
being sorry for doing wrong things and turning
away from them to do what's right |
| resurrection |
three days after Jesus died, he was resurrected,
or came back to life. 40 days later he ascended into heaven to never die
|
| salvation/saved |
forgiven of wrongs and given eternal life in
heaven with God |
| Savior |
another name for Jesus - who came to save us
from the penalty of doing wrong things (which is being separated forever
from God in hell after we die) |
| share your faith, witness |
telling other people about God and
how he can change their life |
| sin, sinner |
doing wrong things |
| testimony |
a personal story either about how that person
came to have a relationship with God or what God is doing in their life
at that time |
| worship |
pleasing God by giving him honor and glory
through singing about him or praying to him |
