Reverend Chad C. Fernald MDiv.

Pastor Chad graduated with a BA in History from Gordon College in 1995; he earned his MDiv from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in 2001. 

Pastor Chad is a lifetime member of the Seacoast community. Chad has served in congregations in Kittery, ME and Exeter, NH as well as having spent time teaching at Portsmouth Christian Academy.

Initially ordained in the Baptist church (2001), Pastor Chad was ingrafted (gratefully) into the Advent Christian denomination which formally recognized his ordination as an AC pastor in 2009.

In addition to his duties at HCC, Pastor Chad serves denominationally as an executive member of the Maranatha Conference Board of Directors.

Pastor Chad is an avid New Orleans Saints fan.

Chad, his wife Joleen and their daughters Cheyenne and Abigail love visiting Walt DisneyWorld.



Across the river from 'Expidition Everest' at Disney's Animal Kingdom ('though you won't catch me riding it!)

What I'm Reading

Well I am at it again...too many books. One that I am reading in my office is 'The 10 Dumbest Things Christians Do' (by Mark Atteberry Thomas Nelson 2006)

'Right now, there's every reason to believe that several people in your church are working daily to frustrate God and hinder the progress of His Kingdom. What's more, it's a pretty safe bet you're one of them.'

That's the opening paragraph of the introduction "The Church in Clown Shoes"; a real attention grabber.

Atteberry's premise is that there are certain behaviors Christians engage in, sometimes without knowing, that bring shame to the Church and delight to satan.

Chapter 1, "Slinging Mud on the Bride of Christ", is about critics, gossips, malcontents and others who denegrate the Church at every opportunity either through words or actions

Chapter 2, "Winning People to the Church Rather Than to the Lord" discusses the problem of people jumping ship on the Church because it didn't live up to their expectations.

"They begin their faith experience with their hopes and dreams pinned on a group of imperfect people rather than the Lord of the Universe. How can they help but be disappointed? How can we be surprised when they leave?' (p25)

Chapter 3, "Living Below the Level of Our Beliefs" is an honest examination of the hypocrisy so prevelant in those who say one thing and do the complete opposite.

I appreciate the way Atteberry offers practical suggestions on how to overcome these behaviors such as a return to strong preaching, a closer seeking of the Lord and telling the truth about our shortcomings.

In chapter 4, "Speaking Above the Level of Our Knowledge", Atteberry examines the harm that comes from Christians who don't know enough to keep their lips together but blab on as 'experts' in matters they really know nothing about. Atteberry offers the 'Apollos Approach' as a method of guarding against this problem (see pages 76-78)

Chapter 5, "Hoppping from Church to Church" is an all to accurate portratit of the mindset of many modern American church goers. Atteberry exposes the 'complainer' and the 'consumer' as the two most frequent offenders. As in other chapters, he discusses positive steps to reduce the prevalence of this 'dumb thing' in the section headed 'The Blessings of a Long Term Commitment'.

I will be reading chapter 6 soon with comments to follow.

The Christian and the Tithe

(Sermon preached on 1/29/2012)

Not too long ago a friend of mine asked me about tithing.  He asked if I tithed to my church.  I said that I most certainly did and did he think that was strange?  He said no, but that he had heard of pastors who didn’t tithe to their own church. 

What message does that send about a pastor’s commitment to his congregation or his confidence in their shared ministry that he would not tithe to his church?

I affirm to you again- your pastor tithes; and he tithes to this church.

I tithe because it is an act of obedience to the Lord.  I tithe to our church not because it is the most convenient method, but because I believe in our shared ministry.

Every 5^th Sunday- a day we set aside to focus on stewardship. 

Stewardship comes from a compound Greek word which loosely translated means ‘the law of the house’ or the oversight of household affairs.

We recognize that stewardship is about more than just money.

To be a steward is to take the responsibility of overseeing the management of something.

Financial stewardship means overseeing the proper collection and use of monetary resources.

Environmental stewardship is the responsible care of our natural surroundings.

A preacher is called a steward of the Word of God; one who has the task to handle the Scripture in a responsible manner.

This morning I do want to speak on the financial aspect of stewardship, particularly on the tithe.

It is important for me to reiterate my absolute belief that the tithe is not an Old Testament principle which is no longer binding.  The tithe was introduced in the Old Testament, but remains the basis of giving for all God’s people.

‘But pastor, if the tithe comes from the Old Testament isn’t it a part of the Law; and doesn’t the Bible call the Law a curse; and doesn’t Christ redeem us from the curse of the Law?  Therefore to continue to tithe would be to live under the curse of the Law!  You are preaching works!’

A well constructed argument… unfortunately one that is built on a foundation of sand!

Admittedly, the origin of the tithe is the key isn’t it?

The tithe is certainly included in the Mosaic Law, but we must ask ‘did it originate there?’ 

The answer is no.  Open with me to Genesis 14. 

In this chapter Abraham, who is at this point still called Abram, is forced into military action in order to rescue his nephew Lot, who has been taken captive as the result of a local war.  Let’s read this in Genesis 14:8-17

⁸Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboi’im and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Sidd’im ⁹against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goi’im, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar — four kings against five.  ¹⁰Now the Valley of Sidd’im was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills.  ¹¹The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away.  ¹²They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.  ¹³One who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew.  Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram.  ¹⁴When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan.  ¹⁵During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.  ¹⁶He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.  ¹⁷After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

That’s an exciting battle scene…but what does it have to do with the tithe?

It’s what happens next that is of interest to us.

¹⁸Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, ¹⁹and he blessed Abram, saying, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.  ²⁰And blessed be God Most High, Who delivered your enemies into your hand.’  Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. (Genesis 14:18-20)

Here is the origin of the tithe.

‘Wait pastor, I didn’t hear the word tithe in that passage.’

Sure you did; tithe simply means ‘a tenth’.  Both the Old and New Testament words translated ‘tithe’ mean ‘a tenth’ (Hebrew ma`aser; Greek dekatoo)

Abram gave him a tenth -or a tithe- of everything.

This Melchizedek has been the source of much speculation.

He is a mysterious man, seeming to appear from nowhere are disappearing as quickly.  The writer of Hebrews elaborates on his identity in chapter 7

¹This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High.  He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, ²and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything.  First, his name means ‘king of righteousness’; then also, ‘king of Salem’ means ‘king of peace’.  ³Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever. (Hebrews 7:1-3)

Whoever or whatever else he was, Melchizedek is a ‘type’ or a fore- shadowing of Christ.  The writer of Hebrews goes on:

⁴Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!  ⁵Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people — that is, their brothers — even though their brothers are descended from Abraham.  ⁶This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.  ⁷And without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater.  ⁸In the one case, the tenth is collected by men who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living.  ⁹One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, ¹⁰because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor. (Hebrews 7:4-10)  

So then, the tithe has nothing to do with the Law; in fact, as the writer says, through Abram those who would later live under the Law gave tithes to Melchizedek- who was a representation of the Lord Jesus. 

‘But pastor, Abraham was the father of the Jewish nation.  I’m not Jewish so I don’t need to tithe.’ 

First: at this point in his life, Abram is not Jewish either; in fact there is no such thing as Jewish. 

One of the distinguishing features of the Jewish people was circumcision.  All this takes place before God gives the command for circumcision.

Abram is technically a Gentile and he tithed while being a Gentile.

Second: every true Christian is a child of Abraham.

What does the Scripture say?

⁶Consider Abraham: ‘He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’  ⁷Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. (Galatians 3:6-7)

And:

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)

A Christian is also a believer in the God of Abraham- Jesus Christ.

Jesus said: …Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing My day; he saw it and was glad. (John 8:56)

Are you a Christian?  Then we are to tithe as Abraham did!

Consider this example of those who claimed to be children of Abraham simply because they were Jewish:

‘Abraham is our father,’ they answered.  ‘If you were Abraham's children,’ said Jesus, ‘then you would do the things Abraham did.’ (John 8:39)

Being a child of Abraham has nothing to do with race, but rather with obedience based in faith.

When we follow the pattern of Abraham- and tithing is part of that pattern -we honor Jesus, Who was symbolized by Melchizedek.

So back to the original question: we see that the tithe originated apart from the Law.

And because the tithe does not belong to the Law, it cannot be part of the ‘curse’ of the Law. 

As the giving of the tithe is not a ‘curse’ there was no need for us to be redeemed from it.

Friends, the tithe is not a curse; it is a blessing, a blessing that remains in effect for God’s people.

A blessing?  How can giving up 10% of my income be a blessing?

What does the Scripture say?

¹⁹[Melchizedek] blessed Abram, saying, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth…Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Abram tithed in response to the blessing and greater blessing came to him because he tithed.

¹After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.’ ²But Abram said, ‘O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?’  ³And Abram said, ‘You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.’  ⁴Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.’  ⁵He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars — if indeed you can count them.’ Then [God] said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’  ⁶Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.  ⁷He also said to him, ‘I am the Lord, Who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.’ (Genesis 15:1-7)

I believe the blessing came to Abram in part because he was faithful to the Lord with his earthly possessions.

God also promises a blessing when we tithe in Malachi 3:10-12.

¹⁰‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.  ¹¹I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,’ says the Lord Almighty.  ¹²‘Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,’ says the Lord Almighty.

Do you want God’s blessing?  Tithe.  If you want God to withhold His blessings, don’t tithe.  That’s what it comes down to.

So pastor, you are saying that if I give the tithe, God will give me whatever I want?

No.  Let’s be clear: the tithe is not a magic spell or some form of the false prosperity gospel that promises a yacht and a Mercedes and a Caribbean villa for giving to God.

What God promises through Malachi is that if we are faithful to give Him what He requests- 10% -He will be faithful to stretch the remaining 90% further than we thought possible.

When we faithfully bring the tithe from the Firstfruits, not what’s left when we’ve paid everything else, but right off the top, God promises that He will honor and bless. 

Will you believe God?

‘Wow pastor!  When you put things that way, why wouldn’t I tithe?

My thoughts exactly.