“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” I Corinthians 15:3-4
For several years I pastored in the Detroit area where within one mile of each other there were three Baptist Churches. On I-75 south at the 10 mile exit was Calvary Baptist Church; at 9½ mile was First Baptist Church; and at the 9 mile exit was Tabernacle Baptist Church. The Calvary Baptist Church for 35 years was pastored by Dr. David Allen, noted pastor and Bible conference speaker; the First Baptist Church was pastored for 30 years by Rev. Bill Bach; and I was the new kid on the block, just having come to the Tabernacle as a rather young pastor. When we would get together they would call me the “Rookie Rector!”
Each of the churches would have summer daily vacation Bible schools and many children of the community would go to all of them, including mine. Calvary Baptist Church had an active bus ministry so they would reach out into surrounding communities to pick children up. At the very front of their auditorium was a large sign that read, “Christ Died for our Sins!” On one particular day, sitting in front of our children, were some kids, who upon arriving and seeing the sign, shouted, “We been here before – Christ died for our sins!” Our family still chuckles about that when we reminisce the past. [Read more…]
