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Not just the form of ministry, but the fire in it (w/ Jesse Bradley)

podcast Dec 16, 2021

Jesse Bradley is a former soccer player turned pastor…

During his college days at Dartmouth, he took a introductory to world religions class, reading all the originally religious texts as part of the course requirements.

“The professor tried to undermine the Bible,” he recalls, “but Scripture is powerful.”

Jesse didn’t enroll in the class to seek Christianity, but the Christ sought him through that class.

A believer in the course offered him a steady stream of solid answer for each of this questions. Throughout the year, he continued reading. And asking. And growing.

In the end, he was a Christian.

 

If Covid taught us anything, it showed us that external success always comes up empty— especially when the success is removed. In fact, we might not even realize the issue until the external props are gone…

Jesse reminds us that this season gives us a chance to go back and re-write the script of our lives, to refocus on the things that matter, to go back to the reasons we got into ministry in the first place.

 

Jesse recently found himself on Good Morning America (GMA, link below), sharing his personal story of a near-death experience, as well as how faith reignited his passion for life after he lost his soccer career.

The road to GMA was through a series of secure podcasts, forums in which he shared his struggles— and subsequent joy— to secular audiences.

“God always opens doors,” he says, “particularly when we go to where the people He wants to reach are.”

 

He’s also learned the importance of working as a “city of THE church” rather than working as separate churches. As such, he partners with “Saturate the Sound,” a cohort of ministries who have aligned to reach the area he lives in Washington.

They’ve rejected competition and isolation and chosen partnership. The result is a city-wide vision that’s featured him exchanging pulpits with a Korean pastor (translator included!) and other opportunities to achieve more together.

 

It’s easy to fall in love with “running the ministry” and counting the “results” of the work than falling in love with the Christ over the ministry and the people in the ministry.

Again, Covid offers us a chance to reset, to refocus, to start-over…

Reject the mere “form” of ministry and catch the “fire,” Jesse reminds us…

And, as Shawn adds, “Jesus wasn’t teaching a different text than the Pharisees. He taught the same text, but He put LIFE in it…”

That’s a good word…

 


Links for this talk

Free Teams Crash Course = www.CourageousPastors.com/cc 

Grace Community Church = https://www.graceinauburn.com/ 

Jesse’s website = JesseBradley.org 

Social Media links = 

https://twitter.com/jessejbradley 

https://www.instagram.com/jessejbradley/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-bradley-4952488a/ 

Jesse shares his story on GMA, for Faith Friday = https//youtu.be/8OkDTx2tbqw 

 

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