Mike Chandler

My faith journey:

I was born in Miami, Florida to my first-generation Cuban-American mother and my father, whose family’s Alabama roots are traceable back to Jamestown settlement, Virginia. I was raised in Osceola County, where I have lived most of my life. I trusted in Christ when I was 15 years old, while responding to a Sunday morning altar call at First Baptist Church of Kissimmee. I graduated from Osceola High School in 2004 and married Melanie Ames two years later. Since then, the Lord has blessed us with five children: Caleb, Cadence, Logan, Timmy, and Daisy. I am truly blessed to say I am married to my best friend. I first felt called to pastoral ministry during our honeymoon and later realized I was called specifically to a preaching ministry when I was 24. After finishing graduate school, I began serving in my first pastorate here in Saint Cloud, serving as Lead Pastor of Harmony Community Church for almost 4 years. I came to Celebration Community Church in 2017, where God facilitated the launch of a satellite campus in Saint Cloud. I was called as Campus Pastor of that campus in 2018 and later became the Senior Pastor when the campus became an autonomous church—Grace Pointe Church—in 2022.

Education:

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D), Applied Theology, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC, 2024
• Doctor of Ministry (D.Min), Expository Preaching, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC, 2016
• Master of Business Administration (MBA), Grace College and Theological Seminary, Winona Lake, IN, 2013
• Master of Arts (MA) in Ministry, Grace College and Theological Seminary, Winona Lake, IN, 2012
• Bachelor of Science (BS) in Information Technology, Capella University, Minneapolis, MN, 2010

My Publications:

• The Adoption of Communication Theory Models in Homiletics in the Journal of the Evangelical Homiletics Society, Volume 21, Number 2 (2021)
• Overcoming the Influence: A Preacher’s Field Guide to Sermon Delivery for a Distracted Generation (Rainer Publishing: Nashville, 2018)

My Other Works:

• The Impact of Media Theory on the Communication Theories Adopted in the Field of Homiletics, Dissertation (Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Wake Forest, 2024)
• The Impact of Technology and Consumerism on Sermon Delivery Methodology, Dissertation (Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Wake Forest, 2016)

Books I recommend:

• The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in the Christian Life by A. W. Tozer
• A Praying Life by Paul Miller
• The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter
• The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper
• The Christ-Centered Exposition Series

I would also recommend reading on notable figures in church history, including:

• Augustine in His Own Words by William Harmless
• Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World Hardcover by Eric Metaxas
• George Whitefield: God’s Anointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century by Arnold A. Dallimore
• Jonathan Edwards: A Life by George M. Marsden