Day: October 17, 2010

Part of my responsibility in the service was to introduce the church to the visitors, and especially to answer these two questions: What is an Evangelical? and Why do we baptise?

How do you introduce evangelicalism to unbelievers (some Roman Catholics, others atheists or agnostics), who have no prior knowledge. How do you introduce baptism simply to them? The other challenge is that being Reformed Baptist, my understanding of baptism might slightly differ from most evangelicals here. I did my best, trying to articulate these clearly so that every one could understand.

I am reproducing my notes below (in French), and would love any comments on how these may be improved in the future. I did not read them word for word, but these will give you the essence of what was said:

Qui sommes nous?

Nous sommes protestants, et héritiers de la Réforme protestante du 16eme siècle. Etre évangélique veut dire entre autre que nous croyons que la Bible est dans sa totalité inspirée de Dieu. c’est à dire que bien qu’écrite par des hommes, elle trouve son origine en Dieu lui même qui a formé et guidés les auteurs bibliques de telle façon que ce qu’ils ont écrit est la Parole de Dieu. L’une des implications pratiques de cela est que la Bible est sans erreurs, et qu’elle est notre seul guide et norme en matière de Doctrine et de vie. Ainsi, nous croyons que les miracles qui y sont décrits sont véridiques, comme par exemple la naissance de Christ d’une vierge.

L’autre point essentiel de notre identité évangélique est que nous proclamons que personne ne peut être sauvé par ses propres efforts. Seul Dieu, dans sa grâce, sauve, à travers l’oeuvre et la personne de Jésus Christ. Jésus Christ est le chemin, la vérité et la vie, et nul ne vient au Père que par lui. C’est sa mort sur la croix et sa résurrection qui nous a ouvert le chemin au Père. Le seul moyen d’être sauvé c’est de mettre sa foi en Christ, c’est à dire de mettre en lui tout notre confiance, en reconnaissant notre propre inhabilité de le faire par nous même.

Pourquoi baptisons nous?

Le baptême et la Sainte Cène sont les seules ordonnances que le Christ a institué et qu’il nous a laissé. Ces ordonnances n’ont rien de magique. Ce sot des signes qu’il nous a laissé pour nous rappeler visuellement ce qu’est l’évangile et ce qu’il a fait pour nous. Ainsi, le baptême symbolise pour la personne baptisée son union avec Christ, le pardon de ses péchés, sa purification. Mais le baptême manifeste aussi notre réponse à la grâce de Dieu. Pour cette raison, seuls ceux qui professent leur repentance envers Dieu, ainsi que la foi et l’obéissance au Seigneur Jésus Christ peuvent se porter candidats au baptême. Nous ne baptisons pas les nouveaux nés. C’est cette démarche que Magali a voulu entreprendre, en témoignage de l’oeuvre que Dieu a fait dans sa vie.

We had a baptismal service this afternoon. The last one was about five years ago, so it was exciting to be there and to witness this event. It was my privilege to lead the service, and my colleague Emmanuel Hartiel preached and did the baptism itself. The person being baptised had also asked him to read her testimony because it might be a bit too emotional for her.

There were about 40 people, the room was full. A good part of them were unbelievers and were in a Protestant service for the first time. They heard the gospel, and a good number of them left with a Bible and some literature. We now pray that the seed sown will grow and bear fruit. Some Christian friends had come from further afield as well, and it was good to meet Alain Monclair, former minister of the Guingamp church, and Pierre Boulanger, a retired minister living in the area (and the uncle of an old friend of mine). Overall, the service was God centred, and Christ was uplifted.

It was also the first baptism to take place in our building. Previously, the church used to go all the way to Paimpol to use the baptistry of the Baptist church there (where Caradoc Jones, a Welsh missionary used to be). But it was felt that it would be better to have it here if we wanted unbelievers to come. So, Emmanuel Hartiel bought a bath and built a baptistry. It is removable and will be stored in the garage in the back of the church. It is amazing how effective it was.

We praise God for the work he has done in the lady who was baptised, and for this amazing opportunity to preach Christ and Him crucified.

Last night we had our first meeting with the young people. The four of them came around for tea, and I introduced Christianity explored. Then we played a game for a while before going home.

Today is a busy day. Appart from the normal Sunday morning service this morning, we are looking forward to a Baptismal service in the afternoon. A lot of people have been invited, so we expect a full room.