Chandler went on to say that the inappropriate direct messaging situation “scared” him.
“I’m a man who’s very serious about his life and doctrine,” Chandler said, adding that the fact that he was unable to see his error was “disorienting” to him.
“I needed to understand that. It revealed some unhealth in me,” he said. Chandler further shared that the elders’ plan involved “a couple of intensives,” including a neurological exam.
“I don’t know if you were around for that, but I actually don’t have a right frontal lobe,” the pastor explained, sharing about the tumor he had removed 13 years ago. Chandler and the elders suspected that there could be “something wrong with” Chandler’s brain.
Chandler continued, “I just honestly feel like I’m like fresh out of surgery or something—like it’s a little too tender. I’m not sure how it moves just yet. But I think in time, all that the Lord has done and accomplished, I’ll be able to vocalize, if the Lord wants me to. I mean, some of that stuff just needs to be mine—needs to be my wife and I’s.”
“I don’t care who is watching this stuff outside these walls. It’s us,” he said. “I love our elder board…They love the Word of God. They love Jesus Christ and they love me and my family and not because I can preach.”
Chandler further described the TVC elders as a “gutsy, godly group of men.”
“I’m planning on being here for a long time in the future,” Chandler said. “If I hindered [you] any way, please forgive me. To our elders and our staff, and to my family. Thank you. You have been in a very real way, the tangible grace of God towards us in Christ. Thank you. I love you.”
The elders then joined Chandler on stage to pray over him.
“There’s a lot of emotions coming in today. The primary one for me is excitement and gratitude…I’m thrilled. I’m pumped. I’m excited. I’m eager,” Patterson said. “We get to see a God who comes towards [us]. We get to see a God who comes to the woman whose knee is wobbly, that needs a bit of help.”
“The book of Hebrews says that when [Jesus] does work on our hearts, when he disciplines us, he disciplines those that he…loves,” Patterson said. “Praise the Lord! And then for us as a church body to celebrate restoration, to celebrate the full circle of coming back. Because the Lord does not leave his people low. He breathes life back in, and he says to his sons and his daughters, ‘Let’s go. Let’s go.’ He’s got 1000 graces. He is a merciful Father.”
After Chandler’ sermon, the service concluded with a time of honoring Chandler and his family on the 20th anniversary of their coming to TVC.
