The Church of the Nazarene practices two sacraments: baptism and the Lord's Supper. The Nazarene Manual uses both 'sacrament' and 'ordinance' language, reflecting the tradition's middle position: these are outward signs of inward grace, not mere symbolic gestures, but neither are they ex opere operato — they do not mechanically convey saving grace apart from faith.

On baptism, the Church of the Nazarene is unusual among evangelical denominations in that it does not mandate a single mode. Sprinkling, pouring, and immersion are all considered valid. The denomination also permits the baptism of infants (as in the Wesleyan Methodist tradition) alongside the baptism of professing adult believers. This latitude on mode and subjects reflects the denomination's Wesleyan inheritance and its resistance to making baptismal practice a test of fellowship.

The Lord's Supper is observed as a memorial of Christ's death and a proclamation of his coming return. The Nazarene position does not affirm transubstantiation or the Real Presence in the Lutheran sense, but neither is the Supper merely symbolic in a purely Zwinglian way. It is a means of grace — an occasion for genuine spiritual encounter with Christ — through faith. Frequency of observance varies among local churches.