Jesse Bradley joins Sarah Taylor to discuss the importance of living a purposeful life and sharing one’s faith. From being a professional athlete to becoming a pastor, Jesse emphasizes the role of God’s grace in his life.
Show Notes:
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Transcription:
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
God’s there for you today. If you’re going through something, God’s there. You don’t need to run. You don’t need to find a cave. You don’t need isolation. You don’t give into despair. God’s there. He’s good. Jesus is a good shepherd. He’s with you and he’s going to carry you. He’s going to provide for you. His grace is sufficient. That became one of my anthems for those years, his grace is sufficient. I believe that today, his grace is sufficient.
Sarah Taylor:
Welcome to the Passion Meets Purpose Podcast. My name is Sarah Taylor. This is where we discuss the things that you’re naturally good at, your gifts, your talents, your abilities, and then how do you put those on display for the rest of the world. Let’s jump in with today’s guest. Pastor Jesse Bradley joins us. I am so happy to have you here just to share your faith story and to share what you’ve come to learn about God’s character through all of it. So let’s start at the beginning. Let’s start at little Jesse, toddler Jesse. Take me back.
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
Thanks, Sarah. Appreciate your heart so much, this podcast and the way you inspire us. My story at two years old, I told my parents that I want to be a professional athlete. And with a passion for sports, that childhood dream came true. But it was a journey. When I was seven years old, my parents were divorced and the two pillars of my family were no longer together. It was out of my control. It was a terrible feeling, very helpless, and I didn’t know where to turn. I went to a counselor.
There wasn’t much healing. This is what I decided at that point. If I have no control over my parents’ relationship, what I can do is try hard. And sports, academics, friends, if those three areas are going well, I’ll probably be happy. That’ll probably be a great life. And that’s what I poured my life into. And I didn’t believe in God. I didn’t know Jesus. I didn’t read the Bible. We never went to church, and God wasn’t even on my radar. I didn’t think he existed. And then as it progressed through high school, there was success in the classroom.
Also, played three sports. We won state championships. And then I went to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. And as I went to Dartmouth and I showed up on campus, everything was going incredibly well. Again, soccer was outstanding. We won an Ivy League title my freshman year. I was doing well in school, making so many great friendships, and that’s where I was stuck. It just didn’t make sense. Dissonance is a word for it. When the outside of my life, the outside story looked successful and the inside felt so empty.
And all the boxes that I wanted to check, they were all checked. And we have an outside story and an inside story. And a lot of times people only get a glimpse of what’s going on through social media or they have an impression of us. But the inside story is the real story, and we know it and God knows it. And as I took an introduction to World Religion class, I was not seeking God. And I was assigned to read the Bible, one of many different texts, and that scripture in the Gospel of John changed my life.
It actually led to many questions. I had never had a faith conversation with a Christian before this. And there was someone on my dorm floor, Mike was his name. He was kind of quiet, small town Tennessee, on the track team, and he let me know that he follows Jesus. He had the courage to then have a conversation with me, and I started to ask him questions. So I was reading the Bible and I was reading Mike, and I was watching both. And he had something I didn’t have and I didn’t know what that was, but I was kicking the tires.
Is the Bible reliable? Okay, what’s the evidence? How about the resurrection? How do we know that that happened? And I was skeptical, but he just kept sharing the truth in love. And when he didn’t know, he would say, “I don’t know. Let me get a little more information.” And he provided a safe place to talk about faith, and we all need a safe place where we can process, think about God, and it’s got to be in truth. I didn’t want to lie. I didn’t want a placebo effect. I just didn’t want a concept.
No. I wanted something that was solid. If my whole soul was going to be invested in this and I’m going to follow Jesus and trust him, I have to know he’s trustworthy. And no one’s more faithful than Jesus. The long story short is I put my trust in him my sophomore year, and this joy on the inside… And I’m not someone who sings. When I’ve been in a choir, the people say, “Could you sing more quietly because you’re distracting me.” Literally, I tried to play piano. My piano teacher said, “You’re wasting your parents’ money. You’re wasting my time. You’re wasting your time.”
You got that kind of blunt answer coming from a piano teacher, that says something. Like everything I touch, saxophone, I don’t know how my parents endured that. I have no musical ability. And yet when I put my trust in Jesus, this song just burst forth from the inside. I’d walk around campus and I just felt this joy, this new source of joy, this pure joy. And it was kind of like a song was in my heart, and my life started to change. I started to forgive people I wasn’t able to forgive. I forgave my dad.
Instead of chopping people down, I just wanted to build people up. I had a love for people. And none of that was planned. It was simply I came to know Jesus. And nothing’s greater than a relationship with Jesus. This is not dead religion. This is not rituals. This is the living Savior who has living water. And it’s my joy to talk about Jesus and how he changed my life.
Sarah Taylor:
Can you tell Jesse is a pastor?
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
It’s true. Sometimes I feel like I can preach every day, Sarah, and it doesn’t take much. And I just want to talk about him. But when you’re in love, I remember when Lori and I got engaged and it was that romantic day in the canoe. I got down to one knee and she said yes. It was like we couldn’t pick up the phone and call enough people. I just wanted to say, “Hey, we just got engaged. We just got engaged.” Such good news. I just want to tell everybody. And that’s kind of how I wake up in the morning.
Sarah Taylor:
I love it. I love it. Operating in your full gifting, that’s what happens. It only makes you feel more alive to step into that identity. Okay, you said a lot of really good things. We’re going to go back to a couple of them. First one, you were reading God, reading his word, and you were reading Mike. I love that. Because someone listening right now, they might relate most to Mike. They might be the Mike for someone else, right? Mike was kind of that first struck a match, lit your flame. Does he know? Are you still in touch? Does he know all that you’ve become?
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
We do keep in touch. And I actually am traveling to Atlanta on a road trip in a car. I told everyone, “We’ve got to go by Smyrna, Tennessee.” They’re like, “What’s in that city?” Not even a city they know about. And we stopped by. And as we showed up, I told Mike’s whole family, “I am so grateful for Mike because he was the only one that I ever met had the courage to share about Jesus.” And he lived it out. And he wasn’t at all the parties, he wasn’t super social, but that’s not what matters in life.
And he didn’t have this dramatic testimony of like, well, he did drugs. He was overdosed. He’s going to take his life. No. You don’t need a crazy testimony. You don’t need to be like someone you’re not and try extra hard or try to be the life of the party. If you just walk the walk, and God already made you wonderfully in God’s image, God’s already working in you. The Holy Spirit is in you. And so don’t put all that pressure on yourself. Just love people, love your neighbor. Be authentic. Take some relationship risks.
And I thanked his family. I thank him so often. I am still so grateful. When someone brings a gift and maybe you’re at your lowest point or someone brings a gift that changes your life in a significant way or even is connected to your eternal destiny, that’s a gift. Mike was the instrument of healing. And I’ll tell you, there’s a lot of people listening right now, you’re the instrument of healing and the ripple effect is far beyond what you can see. Just be faithful and trust God with the results.
If God’s having you pray for somebody, if God’s wanting you to share your story, if God’s wanting you to send a link or send a podcast interview with somebody, when God brings those prompts, just say yes. And on the other side of yes, you’re going to see incredible things that God’s going to do. The miracles in the Bible, there’s something small like five loaves, two fish. Well, how far could that go? Jesus will take it, right? We just bring a little, God will do the multiplying.
Sarah Taylor:
I feel like I just heard… I don’t know what I heard. I don’t know if it was a sermon or a book. It was something about how it usually starts with something you have. You mentioned those people were hungry and he says the little boy, “What do you have?” And loaves and fish. Or there’s two other stories.
You’re the one that’s the pastor, so hopefully you will be able to remember these. But there were two other stories where God was like, “What do you have?” And it was like someone either had a lamp or oil or whatever it is. He takes the tangible thing that we do have, it’s like I have nothing except for this small thing, and he breathes on it.
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
Yes, start where you are, use what you have, do what you can, and stay prayerful. And as you’re in that mode, God’s already written a script. Ephesians 2:10 says he goes ahead of us. He already has placed these in our path, so you don’t have to fake it, manufacture it. And as you walk in it, there’s going to be joy. There’s going to be reliance. You might feel scared. That’s okay. I feel scared every time I share my faith. I feel scared before I go in this podcast. We literally stopped this podcast after two minutes because I messed it up, and now we start over.
Just being authentic here. The pressure’s not on us. God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. And God’s going to do things that we never see coming. His greatest blessings are often ones that we don’t plan. And I’ll tell you this, I hated to speak. I literally almost got into an argument with my high school teacher because he wanted me to give a speech. And I said, “I don’t do that.” I had to talk once in front of the school and I just went to my falsetto and everyone made fun of me.
I was so nervous. It was like my falsetto kicked in. I hated speaking. And then I came to know Jesus, and all of a sudden my senior year in college, it was like this ability kicked in and then the desire kicked in. And it was like, I think God wants me to do this. There might be things inside of you right now that you haven’t discovered yet, but God has already placed in there. And they’ve been gifts and abilities that have been latent or not, something you’re currently doing. They might be places you’re going to go.
And God can be trusted. Ultimately, at the core of my decision, life is going to be better if Jesus leads and I follow than if I follow and I lead and tell Jesus to follow me and bless me. And there’s two different modes. And so this adventure often for me, it starts with a deep conviction, like I need to do this, I have to do this, but it’s compelled with love. Christ love compels us.
And if you have something that’s making you cry, stay up at night, if you have a burden to help people in human trafficking or homeless people, or you want to help someone right now who’s going through a hard time, you want to bring them a meal, don’t ignore those nudges from the Holy Spirit. Those are gifts. Those are promptings. And purpose and passion come together. And when purpose and passion connect, you see the power of God, the presence of God. God’s in it, and you’re going to have an incredible journey. Every day is a gift and make the most of those opportunities.
Sarah Taylor:
Another big part of your story is, I wouldn’t call it failure, but some people might, there was a season where it felt like failure for you, right?
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
Absolutely. That’s right. Because my childhood dream came true. I played professional soccer overseas. I was in Scotland. I was in Zimbabwe. Then I took a prescribed medication and it built up toxic levels. What was supposed to protect me was killing me. And the physicians in Zimbabwe said, “Fly home now because your health is deteriorating.” I was fighting for my life for a year.
The major problem physically was with my heart, atrial flutter, tachycardia, which means racing heartbeat, 160 beats a minute sitting still, skip beats, murmur, pain in the left side of my chest day and night. And then I also had all the emotional side effects, waves of anxiety, panic attacks, depression. I didn’t know how to get through that. I didn’t have a roadmap.
I didn’t have the coping skills. I didn’t have the tools. My approach when things get difficult in life is just be tough, white-knuckle it, do things better. And I couldn’t apply myself in school or sports. I couldn’t hit fast-forward, and it slowed everything down. God does his greatest work in the most difficult moments, and the fruit grows and the valley is not the mountaintops. God wanted to bring transformation in my life and he slowed everything down to do that.
And my identity, your identity is who you are. It’s like an anchor. You’re going to land it somewhere. There’s a choice. I had a performance-based identity, basically inflated, deflated, pride or shame. I had to really come to the truth and realization that who I am is not what I do, and I need to pull my identity out of my performance and land it in God’s grace and presence, because soccer I could lose.
And anything you can lose, that should not be your identity. I didn’t know how to pray. I didn’t know how to pour my heart to God. I didn’t know how to let him in. I had a view of God that he was most interested in my success, the things going well. I had no clue that he actually wants to be right there in the pain, the uncertainty, the dark places, the doubts, the fears.
That’s where he wants to come in. And I didn’t know how to let him in. I didn’t know how to give him my burdens. I didn’t know how to let other people in, but that’s where the healing is. When you let God in, you let other people in. Before the healing, there’s a revealing. And God started to do new things in my life. I started to intentionally thank him, called a gritty gratitude, 10 things every day.
These are all habits. Now I can describe them. At the time I was just in survival mode. I just knew what I had wouldn’t work. Life was going one way. It’d never go that way again. Now again, testing me to the core, it’s brutal and God help me. Because he’s the God of comfort, he’s the God of hope, he will meet you at those low points. Say I didn’t find hope until I really lost it.
And then hope is relational. Hope is habitual. Habits we can cultivate. God empowers, encourages us. Hope is ultimately indestructible because of Jesus. We have a hope greater than our challenges, and this is a hope that I started to discover. I used to think life and ministry would happen out of your shining moments. And God does use those moments where he just so clearly blesses it.
But I’ll tell you, Howard Hendricks used to say, you impress people from a distance, but you impact up close. And I believe that the pain I’ve gone through… C.S. Lewis says, “Pain is a megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” The pain I went through and then what God started to do in my life, that’s become my main connection point with people. And that’s people who know the Lord and don’t know the Lord.
We can talk about what do you do when you are overwhelmed with depression and despair? What do you do when you start having panic attacks and it’s embarrassing and you can’t even drive? What do you do when you don’t have your friends around and it’s just you? What do you do when the doctor say, “We don’t know if it’s going to get any better. You might not make it?”
What do you do in those moments? And Psalm 63:8, you cling to God and his right hand upholds you. And then John 15, you abide with Jesus and you bear much fruit. And God’s there for you today. If you’re going through something, God’s there. You don’t need to run. You don’t need to find a cave. You don’t need isolation. You don’t give into despair. God’s there.
He’s good. Jesus is a good shepherd. He’s with you and he’s going to carry you. He’s going to provide for you. His grace is sufficient. That became one of my anthems for those years, his grace is sufficient. I believe that today, his grace is sufficient.
Sarah Taylor:
Is your heart and everything all healed?
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
It is interesting because I would have different episodes where it would start skipping beats and the tachycardia would come back. And when you have a chronic recovery, a long-term recovery physically, I made charts on my wall because it doesn’t feel like I’m getting better. So I had to look and say, “All right, nine months ago, I can now walk five more minutes without my heart racing.” But even 10, 15 years later, it was still skipping beats. And those were little triggers where I had to give that back to God.
Because the nice story is everything was perfectly healed and then this is what I started to do, but that wasn’t reality. The reality is it would flare up at different times, and then I would have to again come back to the Lord, cry out to the Lord, and then he would get me through that. I’d say God’s got me through everyone, so why fear this one? And then just try to resume normal activities. And now I’m able to play soccer, and the cardiologists have given a green light on everything.
So I don’t have a serious condition moving forward. I’m so grateful for life every day. I don’t take it lightly. And I just feel like God continues to sustain in ways that are beyond anything we can do. And with that gift of life, I just want to see as many people possible experience hope, experience the hope of God, Jesus. And I really think pain, God uses it to forge and fuel a purpose and a passion that is greater than even heart challenges or whatever we’re facing. So God is both in it and then above it and it’s both.
He’s transcendent, he’s imminent, and thank God that he… I’ll just say this, John 11, Jesus wept. Shortest verse in the Bible. What does it tell us? He caress. He knows. He enters in. He’s right with us. He weeps with us. He’s well acquainted with sorrow. And right after that he says, “I’m the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, you’re going to live even after you die.” And so it’s grieving and it’s hope, and I needed to do both. I tried to be denial, that doesn’t work.
Stuff in it doesn’t work. So I grieved honest with God, but then I’m not going to reject the hope as well. So the heart stuff, it just reminded me, I need the Lord. I need the Lord today. We never move past reliance on God.
Sarah Taylor:
Never. No. Deeply dependent on him is how we’re meant to live, which feels so counter-cultural.
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
Yes. The flesh in us just wants to feel like, I’ve got it down. I’ll take it from here, God. I’ve done this before. I’ve got degrees. I’ve got knowledge. It doesn’t matter if you have a PhD, it doesn’t matter if you’ve been in ministry for 30 years, nothing is going to change in terms of you get on your knees, you cry out to God. And it’s true in marriage. Every day is different.
What maybe worked two weeks ago isn’t going to be the right approach today. And you’ve got to have that fresh reliance. How do I enter in? Parenting, we’ve got four teenagers. There’s no verse in the Bible for the situations we face every day. Every week there’s 20 situations. There’s no this is the Bible verse that says how to guide your kids through social media and how to respond when this…
You pray for wisdom. God always gives it, but God doesn’t allow us to get full of ourselves, to be self-reliant. That’s not who we are. Self-sufficient, that’s not who we are. We need God. We need each other. And as much as we resist it, it’s a great place to be. It’s where the peace and contentment really is.
Sarah Taylor:
Tell me a little bit more about once you realized, okay, the athletic dreams are on the shelf and I already know I don’t like to speak in front of people because of that speech class, how did it come to be that you do what you do now?
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
I just started to volunteer at a church, and that’s a great place for everybody. What can you do? I couldn’t do much, but once a week I could help out behind the scenes with middle school. And I realized, I don’t think this will be my job someday, but there’s something in this. God just kept saying, “Keep going.” We were literally playing this chase game around the building and I thought to myself, should I just go home? Is this a waste of time?
And there were these doors literally, and I sensed it was one of those moments that was defining, where I sensed God saying, “This is the way. Walk in it. Just keep playing this game. Walk through these doors. I’m going to guide you.” And my family is kind of like Baskin-Robbins, 31 flavors spiritually. I was the first one to follow Jesus. There was not applause when I came to know the Lord.
When I went into ministry, there was a lot of opposition. Now, I love my family. We’re very close. But it’s kind of like one of those birthday candles that you’ve seen where it’s lit and then you blow it out, and then if it’s a joke candle, then it comes back and it just doesn’t go out? Well, God’s calling is a little like that in my life.
And from volunteering, I tried to work at a camp and I went home three times, couldn’t work there anymore, had strep throat and all these other symptoms, because my body couldn’t take it. So eventually I went to seminary because my body needed four more years to recover. And from that, God led me to be a college pastor. Our group went from about 20 to 800 and I was reaching people who were just like me.
They were coming to campus, curious, a lot of dead religion, didn’t know about grace, didn’t know about a relationship with God. And we just saw all these people come and know the Lord. Listen, again, this theme of my life and maybe you understand, when you go through something difficult and then God meets you there and guides you there or provides for you, you’re going to be able to relate to people going through it.
And then God’s going to use you to go back and bring healing and it’s part of your healing journey too. And with each person that came to know the Lord, there’s so much joy. And I would say this, Sarah, looking back over the years, about three years ago as the pandemic started, I had a deep conviction again, that it’s time to tell as many people about Jesus as possible because the world’s getting bolder about sin.
And I just know how much people are searching and starving for hope. And some of those statistics, like the American Psychological Association said, we’re never more stressed, Center for Disease Control, never been more deaths by drug overdose. Half of Americans felt hopeless, the Census Bureau. I mean, all these are telling a story. UCLA just said 25% of high school students are seriously thinking about suicide right now.
What’s happening in our country? I just felt like I can’t stay quiet, and I want to bring the hope of God. In Romans 15:13, because hope is available, hope is confident and joyful. Trust in someone or something. And your hope is only as strong as the one in whom you hope. He’s the God of all hope. He brings peace and joy when you trust him overflowing, because he’s the God of hope.
I sincerely believe everyone can have the hope of God. It’s not something just come and goes randomly, but in this relationship. And we need hope today. And hope isn’t fluffy, it’s rugged. And the God of all hope is faithful to bring hope. How can I stay quiet and just watch what’s happening in the world today? And whether it’s Ukraine, Middle East, this is a time for us to…
We’re made for such a time as this. And as I’ve taken those risks, is there more opposition? Yes, open doors and obstacles, other people to criticize. Yes. The more you take those relationship risks or you go public with Jesus, there’s going to be people who throw shade, but you’re blessed if that happens. Just keep loving people. Be humble. Be authentic.
Be clear. And as you do that… It’s just like your podcast, Sarah. You don’t get to see everyone this side of heaven, but every time you’re bringing that content that builds people up in all of your interviews, their lives are being changed. And the ripple effect will go out to hundreds, thousands. And so take the first step, build on islands of strength. That’s what God just kept guiding me to do, take the next step.
It’s a faith step and a lot of times it’s not the easiest step. And I like the three C’s. Pray for clarify. Then once God gives you wisdom and clarity, now pray for courage. And as you do that, pray for compassion that you really love everyone well, and God’s faithful to answer that prayer.
Sarah Taylor:
Walk us through for someone listening that they want to share their faith, but they haven’t done it boldly before. Maybe the extent of it is they’ve invited someone to church at Christmas or Easter or a Christian concert or something along those lines, but maybe they have… For example, I’ll just use myself as an example. I have neighbors right across the street. I love them. It’s the kind where my kids are either at their house or their kids are at my house. And there’s a group text of all of us saying, “Who do you have and have you fed them?”
It’s that kind of a feel. They know that we’re believers, but there’s never been anything more. And we know that they are where they are, which is probably a seed of faith, but not interested in church, haven’t ever had any faith conversations. And we try to lead by example, but I’ve never been bold enough to… And I’ve prayed for opportunity, but I’ve never been bold enough to take my neighbor friend out to coffee and ask her bigger questions. Baby step me through it.
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
Right on. Yes. I think so many people can relate to what you just shared. When I first followed Jesus, I tried to be a secret Christian, kind of a hidden piece, where my own roommate didn’t even know I made the decision. And I didn’t want to rock the boat. I didn’t want any relationships to change. I didn’t want rejection. And there was literally my senior year a trip to go down to Daytona Beach and partyers down there. And people were going on this missions trip to share their faith.
And I told everyone the group, “I will not share my faith. I’ll do everything else. I’ll do the bible study. I’ll do the prayer. I’ll do the worship. I’ll come with you guys, have a great time, but I will not do it.” And they just said, “Fine, you don’t have to.” And eventually I went with them. And as they approached different groups of people, a lot of them were drunk, drinking, they would say, “Could we have four minutes to share something that changed our lives?”
And someone would share their story, and then the next person would briefly share in one minute the gospel, which means Jesus died for our sins and he is risen. And I watched them, and I was surprised because no one beat him up. No one spit on them. No one hit him over the head with a bottle. And in fact, people were interested. The ones who didn’t believe said, “That took a lot of courage for you to do that.” And then there was some Christians that were out getting drunk and they were like, “I shouldn’t be doing this. Listen to you, I know I need to turn to God.”
All that to say I went ahead and shared my story, and it was like that was a breakthrough for me. That as I came back on that trip thinking, if I just talked to strangers in Daytona Beach, I can probably talk to the guys on my soccer team.I could probably talk to the guys in my fraternity. I could probably talk to… And it was like a breakthrough. So kind of like sledding where I grew up in Minnesota, you need a little push to get going, and then there’s some spiritual momentum. I really like the acronym BLESS.
And for our church, it’s been empowering. God blesses us to bless other people. We’re blessed to be a blessing. God gives you money so you can be generous with it. God gives you salvation so you can share with other people. God brings healing so you can guide people and be an instrument of healing. And this BLESS acronym is begin with prayer, because we’re going to need God. Those scared feelings might not go away. He’ll give you more boldness than fear, but the scared feelings might not go away.
So begin with prayer. Identify who’s in your life that doesn’t know Jesus. Some Christians think spiritual maturity is to get total distance from all people who don’t know Jesus. And insular and echo chamber, it’s like that’s not spiritual maturity, that’s not Jesus. So you need to go where people are and build some relationships. And here in Seattle, of course, there’s just a very small percentage of people following Jesus. So someone said, “The pond is full. It’s always stocked here.” So begin with prayer.
Then listen to people. This is the one that’s so key. A lot of people think outreach is all talking. No, listen. Ask questions. What’s your background? What do you think about God? Did you have good experiences or bad experiences? Where are you at today? Are you spiritually interested? So important. We can all listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth. James says, “Be quick to listen, slow to speak.” And then people feel valued. And then you get to know them and it’s authentic. And then you can share things because you know their story more.
And then they ask you about your story. So it’s humble to listen to other people, but choose that path of humility. And then E is eat. Take them out for a meal. Buy the meal. Leave a big tip. Don’t go small on the tip, please. If you’re a follow of Jesus, tip well. Or take them out for coffee if you want. But that’s where you sit down, you go a little deeper. Then people are going to say yes to that. S is serve. What needs do they have? Bring them a meal, help with a ride for their kids, do their yard work.
What can you do to serve them? And then the last S is share. Share your story. Share about Jesus. Share about your church. Share an invitation. Share a book with them, whatever you think is going to be most helpful for them. And as you do that, you bless people. God’s going to take over. Don’t put the pressure on yourself. So many people walk into it like, “Oh, I haven’t done it before. It’s scary.” It is. I don’t know what to say. You’re right, a lot of times we don’t. I might not have an answer.
You’re right, a lot of times we don’t have answers. I’ve got to save them. Nope, you can’t save them. All these little lies and distractions that come in. Simply love your neighbor. And as you do that, remember you love people with actions and words. And you don’t just care about their physical and emotional and relational, you care about their spiritual too. And it is a risk. It’ll probably be one of the scariest things you do, but that’s also the scariest can be the best, the most difficult can be the best.
In America, we think the easiest is the best, the easiest, the most comfortable is always the best. Well, that’s not quite how Jesus lived. So it’ll be counter-cultural, and God’s going to give you everything you need. Do it in love. Do it humbly. And if it’s authentic… Even praying before meals with my family who doesn’t know Jesus, first I thought, oh, they’re never going to want that. But now they even say, “Do you want to pray before the meal?” So hearts start to soften over time.
Some relationships, I’ve been in relationships with my family where I’ve seen maybe five or six come to know Jesus, but there are dozens who don’t. But we have great conversations. We love each other. I share freely. And sometimes it takes decades before you see the fruit. Other times someone’s ready. One conversation, one invitation to a Christmas Eve service can be a total life changer.
Sarah Taylor:
You’re a walking example of that because of Mike. You could have gone down a different path, right, if it weren’t for him.
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
That’s it. And some people say, “That never works. It’s wrong to just come up to someone and share your faith.” Well, that’s what Mike did with me. And when I read the Bible, whether it’s Philip and the Ethiopian, there’s just so many times they’ll go to a new city. Paul shows up at Corinth, where sometimes it’ll be gradual with people and sometimes it’ll be right now. And the important part is that you’re just ready and you’re available. The apostle Paul in Acts 16 was thinking, I’ll go to Asia. God said no. I’ll go to Mysia. No. I’ll go to Phrygia. No. Bithynia. No. Okay, Macedonia.
God’s going to lead you and you’re going to realize my name’s on this, and it’ll be your style. There’s 100 ways to do outreach. It’s going to be your style. If you love fixing cars, you’re going to probably get a car group together, fix cars. If you love running, you’re going to get a running group. If you love reading, get a book club. You’re going to find people. And if it’s someone who’s let’s say elderly on your block, they’re going to say, “Can you please set out my garbage every week?”
And you’re going to do that and build this relationship. And then they’re going to ask you and you’re going to share your story. It’s just a pure joy. And God will… He’s wired you a certain style. Do it your style. David wasn’t going to go against Goliath and Saul’s armor. Don’t try to just be like everyone else and watch what God will do if you just say yes to God. Your availability is more important than your ability. And it’s just, God, I’m willing. If it’s Macedonia, my name’s on it, I’ll go.
Don’t be like Jonah heading the other direction, because people in Nineveh, 120,000 people are more eager to hear about God than we realize and often than more than we’re willing to share. And I just found this out, Sarah. There’s a digital campaign called He Gets Us, and it’s been incredible around the US sharing about Jesus. Well, do you know Seattle is the number one city in terms of interest? And more people in Seattle than any other city are like, “We want to know more about Jesus. He Gets Us, what is that?”
So people right off the Pacific Northwest like, “Oh, people aren’t interested in God.” They’re hungry for God. And we had a digital campaign that combined… Because it was around soccer, which was my career and my tragedy, but then I got to share my faith around the World Cup. We saw 480,000 responses, first time decisions to follow Jesus in a campaign that went viral. And in our campaigns, we’re seeing thousands coming to the Lord. Around the world right now, people are sensing.
People who let’s say don’t believe in God, they’ll come up and say, “Do you think this is the end? Do you think this is end times right now?” They’re just sincerely asking, “What in the world’s going on? It seems like a lot of things are upside down. Or where’s the hope?” Online people are searching all the time, God, prayer, Jesus, who is Jesus. And either they’ll go online or they’ll have someone that can create that safe place and have a conversation. People like to talk about Jesus. Not everyone’s ready to come to church.
Still invite. Still church is awesome. We all know how important church is, but just start where people are. Go to where people are. That’s where the shift for me, it’s like we’ve got to be faithful within the walls of church, but we’ve got to go beyond. People are on their phones eight hours a day. They’re on their phones. So how do we meet them there? That’s why you have a podcast. You’re meeting people where they are.
Sarah Taylor:
I just feel led to close this out, that if someone is listening and they want to know Jesus, let’s talk about how simple it is.
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
That’s it. What an honor. If you’re deciding right now to follow Jesus, you’re honoring God most of all. And this is the gospel, the good news. Grace is a keyword. It’s an undeserved gift. You can’t get there through performance. It’s not achieving, it’s receiving. And this is a relationship. It’s not a formula. And no one can force you. There’s no pressure here. There’s no guilt here. This is going to be something you want to do. You want to have this relationship with God, and this is how it works.
First, acknowledge God’s real and God loves you. And then second, you acknowledge that you and I have rebelled against God. The Bible says, all fall short of the glory of God. We’ve all sinned, rebelled. We’ve missed the mark. And that transgression is a big deal. And with that, God has a provision. Jesus Christ, he’s fully God and fully human. He’s the Savior and the Messiah, and he took our place on the cross, and then he’s risen from the grave. There’s two parts to the gospel, which means good news.
He died for our sins and he’s risen. And because he died for our sins, he offers us this great exchange, that pardon and forgiveness, they’re ours when we put our trust in him. When you put your trust in Jesus, you have peace with God, you’re in God’s family forever, and you have eternal life. It’s God’s faithfulness. And God’s promise, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If you’re ready to follow Jesus, you can make a decision right now to put your trust in him. And this is the best decision you’ll ever make.
I was talking about marriage. You can date someone, be interested in marriage, but there comes a day where you say, “Yes, I do.” And it’s a covenant relationship. And with Jesus, you need to step over the line. You need to say yes. And just like a chair, you think, well, that chair’s probably going to hold me up. But trust is when you actually sit in the chair. And if you’re ready right now, I would love to lead you in this prayer. It’s not the perfect words of the prayer, but it’s your heart’s desire where you’re telling God, “I want to follow you, Jesus.”
So let’s pray. Father God, thank you for those who are listening today right now who are ready to begin a relationship with you. Thank you, Jesus, that you are good, that you are real, that you died for our sins. And I pray right now for this decision. Lord, as people are making the decision now to follow you, to put their trust in you, to receive the gift of eternal life, and to know that they’re in your family forever, the assurance of salvation. Jesus, thank you for everyone that’s making the decision.
And we thank you, God, that we’re in your family together, that there’ll be people from every nation, tongue and tribe and heaven together. And we thank you that this relationship with you is both eternal and daily. And Jesus, you came to give abundant life. We thank you. In your name we pray, Lord, amen. And if you just made that decision, I encourage you to let Sarah know. Sarah just loves people, loves to come alongside of people.
Sarah Taylor:
I do.
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
She does. She’s so genuine, and she will help you take those next steps, what it looks like to grow in your faith. She’s going to celebrate with you and just write her a note, social media or through the podcast. She’d love to hear from you. And if you’ve been listening for a while, I’m just going to say this too, give Sarah a note of encouragement because she works hard to put this podcast together.
Sarah Taylor:
You’re so sweet.
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
She loves God. She’s genuine. You know when you listen to her, you know that what you’re getting is in alignment with heaven. You know it’s to build you up. So show some appreciation. That keeps her going, and she’s really serving in so many ways. And we’re grateful for you, Sarah.
Sarah Taylor:
Thank you, Jesse. You took my ending that was supposed to be for you.
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
Well, we’re doing it together, but maybe I did. Maybe I did.
Sarah Taylor:
No, no, no, it’s fine. Thank you for being our guest today. We will link up to all the ways that you can connect with Jesse as well. He has his own podcast. Remind me your website, what’s it called?
Pastor Jesse Bradley:
Yeah, the website has all kinds of free resource on marriage, seven days of transformation. You can go to jessebradley.org. And then also I just wrote a book, which is powerthought.org. It’s The Power of the Second Thought, how God renews our minds. So you can check that out as well. That’s on the website. And yeah, if you want to connect, just let me know. I’m on social media. I’d love to hear from you.
Sarah Taylor:
Thanks so much for being here today on the Passion Meets Purpose Podcast. We’re going to talk again in two weeks. But in the meantime, if you want to do us a huge favor, obviously you know this by now. If you leave a review, it really helps others to find this podcast. It also helps us to make it better. And then you can contact us anytime at Purposely Podcasts. Until next time, thank you.
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