Meet Chris Mueller

By Pastor Rocky

As Evergreen Church prepares to hear from special guest Pastor Chris Mueller this Sunday, October 9, we thought it would be great for Pastor Rocky to share more about how Pastor Chris Mueller has been a particular source of encouragement to him and to our church family.

Who is Pastor Chris Mueller?

Pastor Chris Mueller has been married to Jean for over 40 years. They have two adult sons and three grandsons. Chris has been serving in pastoral ministry since 1979. He is currently the teaching pastor at Faithful Bible Church in Murrieta (Faith Bible Church | God-centered, Bible-saturated (faith-bible.net). He has earned a Master of Divinity from Talbot Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from the Master’s Seminary. He is passionate about discipleship, and he has left a lasting impact upon every local church he has been associated with. He believes that the local church is the most effective training environment from which to disciple men and women. His main aim in the local church is to preach God’s Word and train up leaders. He has recently published two books that are pictured.

Please share how you first got to know Pastor Chris Mueller?

Providence brought Chris Mueller into our lives. In 2019 as I was researching how to implement a discipleship culture into the local church, I was having lunch with Pastor Harry Walls of Grace Community Church, and I asked him what discipleship looks like at their church. Harry gave me a staggering answer as he said that I needed to call Chris Mueller. Harry said, “I am happy to share with you how we go about discipleship, but Chris Mueller is the greatest discipler that we know!” That says a lot coming from Harry who is also passionate about discipleship. Therefore, I contacted Chris, and he was happy to talk to me about how their church goes about discipleship.

How has Pastor Chris Mueller been an encouragement personally to you? To the church?

Firstly, Chris is a very relational man and has been a great big brother to me as he has personally taken an interest in me and our church. Chris has encouraged me through our friendship. He is always encouraging and affirming as we talk through various personal and pastoral issues. He has met with me along with various groups from Evergreen Church. A group of us went to visit Chris in Murrieta to share a meal together.

Our staff took a field trip down to Temecula in January of 2020. Pastor Chris and Pastor John Pleasnick invested two whole days with our staff. They talked to us about how the Lord transformed their church to one with a strong discipleship culture. I was blown away with their intentional efforts to care for us. We felt how much our Lord loves our church by sending these men to care for us.        

The main take away that I gained from our visit with them was that the entire church family is necessary to experience a fuller picture of Jesus Christ. The Lord has gifted every local church with diverse members. Each member brings unique talents, experiences, passions, strengths, and weaknesses to help one another become more like Christ. Therefore, diverse relationships are critical to be able to experience all of this. The church must be connecting with one another. Various life stages must be intertwined with one another. The local church must coordinate formal opportunities to meet in the hopes of informal relationships being birthed.

As I reflect upon our staff trip to visit Chris and John, I am reminded of this picture taken during our Temecula trip. The gardeners pruned the local vineyards to allow the vines to be fruitful for the coming season. This reminds me of the wisdom Chris and John shared about Discipleship. It is challenging work, and it will require much patience. There is a season for everything.

What are your hopes for Pastor Chris Mueller’s time with Evergreen Church on Sunday, 10/9?

Pastor Chis has agreed to preach at our Church and to record a podcast with us. I know that we will be blessed by the sermon on discipleship out of Matthew 28. It is always good to hear from different outside voices who have been fatherly to our church. Our church family will be encouraged to see how our Lord has provided us with relationship to help build up Evergreen Church. Our Lord deeply loves Evergreen Church. The Church will be able to see how Pastor Chris and influenced us.