Pastoral Candidate Chris Chesley

20 March 2016—“Jesus: Chain Breaker, Change Maker” (38:12)

17 April 2016—“The Constant” (44:50)

Calendar

Sunday, 20 March

10^AM Chris to Speak
6_PM “Meeting the Chesleys” informal interview followed by a fellowship and refreshments in Friendship Hall.

Sunday, 17 April

10^AM Chris to Speak
6_PM Q&A service (children's ministries in lower level)

Sunday, 24 April

Ballot vote for the candidate to be accepted as Senior Pastor.

Documents

: Chris Chesley Bio, Doctrinal Statement, etc.

Sermon Audio

The following sermons have been provided by the candidate as representative of his former preaching ministries:

Senior Pastor Candidate—Chris Chesley

: The Chesleys
Chris and Leann,
Aubri (9), Addison (8), and Aiden (1½)

The FBC Search Committee and Deacons unanimously present and recommend to you a senior pastor candidate that through appropriate and diligent investigation we have found to be qualified, above reproach, and able to lead our church body to accomplish God’s desired will here in our community and beyond.

The candidate we are presenting has been recommended by previous ministries as enthusiastic and passionate, effective in communication from the pulpit and one on one, well grounded in an in-depth knowledge of the Bible, mature “beyond his years”, and very compassionate.

Our committee has examined the candidate to find that he has positive history in our church, school & community; having a local legacy of faithfulness, having attended GBCS k-12 and graduated, and having commendably officiated a wedding here at FBC recently.

We recommend to you as our Senior Pastor candidate, Reverend Chris Chesley.

There are many qualities we have observed and appreciate about Chris Chesley. He seems to have a proper focus on family, is concerned about teamwork ministry, has youthful exuberance and passion, has a passionate outlook on Christian education, has good people skills, and has a background and appreciation for biblical counseling. His wife is also very effective in ministry and supportive.

As a leader we see that he is sensitive to God’s leading yet has a sense of confidence. He is concerned for the churched and unchurched, is culturally sensitive and aware, and is a good communicator. He has left each of his previous pastoral positions on good grounds, is esteemed by his peers, seems teachable, wants to learn, is trustworthy in character, and doctrinally sound. He is positive towards Brian’s Safehouse and Sparrow’s Nest. He has attended Appalachian Bible College as well as Liberty Univ.

We want you to get to know Chris Chesley in the weeks ahead. A webpage on our church site will be given to information about Chris: his bio, doctrinal statement, speaking schedule, and sermon links (including future videos of the sermons preached here). He and his family will be engaging different people groups within the church body for personal contact.

Please mark your calendar for these important dates.

Join us in prayer as we seek God’s glory in this important process.

Chris

I am 33 years old. I’m the eternally unworthy recipient of radical, incomprehensible, divine grace and love. I’m an incredibly blessed husband and father to an amazing family. I currently serve in ministry as the Pastor of LifePoint Church in my hometown of Beckley, WV. Prior to starting this church, In addition to a brief time as the Interim Pastor for New Hope Baptist Church in Covington, VA, I served for 6½ years as the Associate Pastor of Faith Baptist church. I was a youth pastor for 4 years before that.

My journey of faith in Christ for salvation began at 4½ years of age. It was a Wednesday evening. I was ill, and my mother was staying home with me while my Dad went to prayer meeting at our church in Beckley, WV. My Mom and I were having our family devotions from a kid’s devotional book. The topic was Hell. In my own limited understanding, I knew that was not where I wanted to be. So, I asked my Mom how I could make sure I didn’t go there. She told me that Jesus came to the earth from heaven and later died for all of us. If we accepted Him and His death as the only way to get rid of sins, asked Him to forgive us, we could be 100% sure that we would go to heaven to be with Him forever.

Though I was young, and although I do feel that this was mostly a child’s version of spiritual “fire insurance,” I did pray on my own, asking God to forgive me for my sins. I said that I believed that Jesus died for me to take away those sins. I then asked Jesus to be my Savior. At age 7, I publicly acknowledged my walk with the Lord through baptism. Several years later, out of a need to do so that I couldn’t ignore, I re-affirmed and re-dedicated my commitment to Jesus Christ, believing that a prayer by itself was not enough to save you, unless the lifestyle was there to back it up. (James 2).

Upon affirmation of my personal, sincere confession of Jesus Christ as my absolute Lord, I committed to serve Him with the rest of my life however He saw fit. That continues to be my commitment, and I have seen Him do amazing things in and through my life. All glory and good goes to Him. I am continually humbled and overwhelmed that He sees fit to work through me, to bring others to Him.

Leann

Leann is native to Southern WV. She grew up in Crab Orchard, as one of 7 children. As a result of the consistent Godly instruction and example of her parents, and the personal working of the Holy Spirit in her life, she surrendered her life to Jesus as Lord and Savior at an early age. Along with her family, she was a member of Glen View Independent Baptist Church for most of her life. Leann was a student at Greater Beckley Christian School from 8th to 12th grade, when she graduated as a Co-Valedictorian. After High School, she went to Concord University for 4 years and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Elementary Education.

After graduating from Concord University, Leann began teaching at a small elementary school in Covington, VA. She has continued to work as an elementary school teacher in various public school systems for the last 10 years. Leann is a devoted, loving wife and mother, and she whole heartedly embraces those roles. It is obvious to anyone that gets to know Leann that she has a strong passion for the Gospel and seeing lives changed forever by its power. Leann is committed to serving other people in obedience to Christ, and she loves the fact that her children already show joy and fulfillment in serving others, despite their young ages.