Church Ordinances

The word "Sacrament" comes from the Latin sacramentum, which in was used in two chief senses: (1) as a legal term to denote the sum of money deposited by two parties to a suit which was forfeited by the loser and appropriated to sacred uses; (2) as a military term to designate the oath of obedience taken by newly enlisted soldiers.

In the twelfth century Peter Lombard defined a sacrament as: an outward sign of an inward grace that it bears the image of that grace.

Sacraments Adhered to by the Catholic Church

The Catholic Church holds that God has appointed external, visible ceremonies as the means by which certain graces are to be conferred on men. In the Catholic tradition there are 3 divisions of Sacraments.

Sacrament of Initiation

Baptism

First Communion

Confirmation

Sacraments of Healing

Confession (Penance) Anointing the Sick

Sacraments of Service

Matrimony

Holy Orders

• Baptism – Grace to proclaim yourself a child of God,
• First Communion – Grace imparted by partaking of spiritual nourishment,
• Confirmation – Grace to becoming a soldier and witness for Christ
• Confession – Grace to restore relationship with to God and people
• Anointing the Sick – Grace to receive strength in times of weakness
• Matrimony – Grace to build family and raise children
• Holy Orders – Grace to serve Gods people

Sacraments Practiced by Protestant Churches

Both Catholics and Protestants alike agree that Sacraments are appointed by God alone and they are a means that God imparts grace to his people. Protestant churches generally only hold 2 of the 7 Catholic Sacraments Baptism and Communion to be Sacraments of the New Testament Church.

Protestants believe that while all 7 sacraments of the Catholic Church are ways God imparts grace to believers. Protestants hold that Christ being the Head of the Church chooses the Sacraments of His Church (Matthew 28:19, Luke 22:14-20). Protestants believe that only the Sacraments that symbolize and reflect salvation are Sacraments of the New Testament Church.

3 Requirements of a Sacraments

1. Instituted  by Jesus Christ
2. Practiced in the early church
3. Taught in the epistles