Presentation
Those who meet on Sunday mornings in the chapel at 230 avenue Saint-Exupéry in Toulouse, or during the week in the various house groups, to pray, listen to the Gospel, share their faith and everyday experiences, experience God’s presence and encourage each other, are men and women like any others, living their faith despite their fragility and weaknesses.
We still have a lot to learn from Jesus’ example ! But we are all constantly living in God’s forgiveness and grace, for which his only Son gave his life on the Cross. This forgiveness constantly calls us to forgive one another, and this grace enables us to be gracious to one another, always.
Together, we form a church that sees itself as a “family of God”. Forming a church means choosing stewardship between men and women from all walks of life who yearn to be disciples of Jesus. We recognise each other as brothers and sisters, not because we agree on everything, but because we are equal before the love of God who gives us life.
Although we are French and French-speaking, our church extends a warm welcome to people from other countries and cultures.
As part of the Federation of Evangelical Baptist Churches in France, we are thankfully not a church standing alone without other churches, and even less against other churches. We seek unity and collaboration, yet without denying disagreements. Sometimes we assert our particular convictions, but for us, the walls of denominations do not reach up to heaven. God saves by grace, not because we are right. So we cooperate with all those who love Jesus Christ and confess his name.
We are Protestants first and foremost through our attachment to the Bible. For us, it is the only authority that declares the truth of God’s love for the world. The Bible is our most precious possession. We read it in faith, with humility, but without refuting an intellectual approach nor issues from contemporary culture.
As Protestants, we also emphasise that salvation is a gift from God, not a reward for merit. God’s gratuitous generosity always abounds over our failures. We are also Protestant in our commitment to dialogue, and in the fact that we favour the Holy Scriptures over the traditions of the Church. For this reason, the Fédération des Eglises Baptistes de France (French Evangelical Baptist Union) is a member of the Fédération Protestante de France (French protestant Union).
In the family of Protestantism, we are evangelical in our conviction that we are not born Christians, but become them through a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. This fundamental encounter, also called “conversion”, is the starting point for a renewed life.
What we have in common with other evangelicals is the desire and commitment to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ to our generation. For this reason, the Fédération des Eglises Baptistes en France is a member of the C.N.E.F (Conseil National des Evangéliques de France), National Council of French Evangelicals.
We are also expecting his return to save our suffering world and establish his eternal reign of justice and peace. We have hope !
We are Baptists in that we only baptise, through full immersion, believers who wish to express their faith in Jesus Christ and become part of his Church.
Our community recognises the need for every believer :
- To be constantly renewed and guided by the Holy Spirit: “be filled with the Spirit” Ephesians 5: 18
- To use the “gifts of grace” (charisms) given by the Holy Spirit as he wishes within the Christian community for the service of others and the common good.
