Pastor Warren Boettcher ’77
Sunday, October 13, 2024

What a joy it is to celebrate 75 years of God’s faithfulness to Delaware County Christian School and what a joy it is to be here today. In thinking about the formative experiences in my life, my years at DC are very high on that list. It wasn’t just because of the many great individual teachers I had, but because of the overall effect of the school on my life. I breathed the air of the Gospel, benefitted from a Christ-centered education, and saw many examples of godliness over my 11 years as a student of DC. This was such a powerful experience in my life that I wanted to become a teacher and only wanted to teach at DC. This was a desire that God graciously granted me for nine years. And, again, my life was impacted by the godly people that surrounded me. People like George and Crys McFarland, Ken Tanis, Steve Dill, Bud Gray, Alex Szucs, Maryellen Bough, Linda Helmus, Russ Nixon, Joe Austin, and many others. DC  was also the place where I met my wife, Kim, dated her, and was dropped by her—but that’s another story. 
 
Today, as we celebrate God’s faithfulness, I’d like us to look at two scripture references. One is an Old Testament text that will call us to reflect, and one is a New Testament text that will give us a charge. First, let’s look at I Chronicles 29:1, 9-19. 
 
This is a significant point in Israel’s history—the building of the temple. It’s significant because the temple was a “house built for God.” In II Chronicles 7:1-3, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. This would be the center for worship and sacrifices and the place where atonement was made for God’s people. Yet, all this points to something greater to come: to Christ and where He would make atonement once and for all! Please notice, that while a massive offering marked by generosity and sacrifice was taken (maybe the largest offering by God’s people of all time), David made it all about God. David says in verse 11: “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.” Rather than congratulate himself or the people, David thanks and praises God in this great endeavor (v. 13). This echoes the Psalmist’s sentiments in Psalm 115:1: “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.”
 
75 years ago, God put it on the heart of a small group of parents to start a Christian school where their children could receive a Christ-centered education. There was much sacrifice, generosity, and commitment that made that possible. They didn’t even have a location to meet as the school was being formed and found their initial home at Grace Chapel in Havertown, PA.  Moving to the old Strawbridge Mansion in Newtown Square was a miraculous providence of God, but the sacrifice didn’t stop with this development. Not only did parents continue to express their commitment financially, but they also served regularly. Families were required to help clean the school two Saturdays during the course of the year and sometimes had summer projects added to that. I still remember scraping gum from underneath desks and chairs for hours; no one wanted the assignment to clean the bathrooms.  It was in those early days of sacrifice that the DC family was born. People loved the school and what it was providing for their children. However, even more than the sacrifice of parents, was the sacrifice of administrators and especially that of teachers. A sacrifice that continues to this day. I believe DC has had and still has highly competent, sincerely dedicated, and deeply godly teachers who have given themselves to serve at DC at a fraction of what they could earn in a different place or a different occupation. They still do this because of that initial vision. 75 years later we are celebrating the faithfulness of God to that vision. 
 
Like David, this can only be explained by God’s greatness, His power, and His grace. Every year it seemed like DC would face some new challenge and then Bud Gray would quote this verse from Jeremiah 32:17, “Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who has made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” We celebrate God for 75 years of His great power and His great faithfulness to DC. This should produce in us: praise and gratitude (v. 13), humility, not self-congratulation (v. 14), and joy (v. 17).  Like David, we want to make this about God and His faithfulness not about our efforts or accomplishments. “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory…” But it doesn’t stop there, this text also gives us a charge: “O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.” The problem was they and Solomon could not keep that charge. They needed something more—they needed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This leads us to our second text: I Corinthians 15:1-5.
 
A lot has changed over 75 years. The mansion (now Lowrie Hall) housed grades one through 12. I spent five years in elementary school on the second floor. The kindergarten met in the barn, and DC had one small gym (now the student activities center). Many a team came into that gym laughing at its size only to go home embarrassed by their loss. Today, there are more buildings, two campuses, more athletics, expanded fine arts programs, and more people. The school even added school uniforms (something we thought was a “Catholic school” thing, but after trying to enforce the dress code as a teacher, I see this as a brilliant idea). Excellent academics, good facilities, competitive sports teams, and the fine arts are all important for an academic institution. However, that is not what sets DC apart. Many schools have those things and some even exceed DC. What sets DC apart is the Gospel. It’s what Paul writes in I Corinthians 15:3 “as of first importance.”
 
So, we don’t leave the Gospel undefined or assumed, look again at verses 3-4: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with Scriptures.” This text tells us so much. It tells us the Bible is one story—the story of redemption. It was always about Jesus coming to save His people and that will always be of “first importance.” It is what was most important to Paul. He writes earlier in I Corinthians 2:2: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” In Galatians 6:14a he writes, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…” This highly educated man who planted churches throughout the Mediterranean world and wrote the bulk of the New Testament celebrated the Gospel as of first importance and boasted in it, not in himself or his accomplishments. Author Jerry Bridges writes, “The Gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history. Yet we allow thousands of professing Christians to live their entire lives without clearly understanding it and experiencing the joy of living it.”
 
This is what DC does. It provides a Christ-centered education that recognizes and teaches that Jesus is Savior of all and Lord of all. Therefore, all subjects and activities revolve around Him. The teachers, administrators, and Board members have all experienced what is written in verses 1-2. They have received the Gospel, they stand in the Gospel, and they hold fast to the Gospel. And now they are telling and applying it to the next generation. It is vitally important to keep this of first importance. History soberly tells us that many institutions and even some churches that were once bastions of Christian faith and orthodoxy have lost their way. They have forgotten the centrality of the Gospel by taking it for granted or by “progressing” to things they think are more important or enlightened. Even success provides a vulnerability to drift and make no mistake, DC is successful. Jon Bloom who co-founded Desiring God Ministries with John Piper writes, “We are never more vulnerable to sin than when we achieve success, are admired by others, and are prosperous.”
 
May we learn from history that is easy to drift and get distracted from the centrality and priority of the Gospel. God, please protect DC from that temptation, and may we always keep first things first. Because Christian education, at its heart, is about one generation telling the next generation about the beauty of Christ—who He is and what He has done for us! 
 
Let me close by reading Psalm 78:4,6,7a: “We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done…that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children so they should set their hope in God…” Amen!