Former professional soccer player Jesse Bradley, who is now a pastor, recently spoke with CBN’s ‘Faith vs. Culture’ about how his new platform is changing lives. Bradley, who is the senior pastor at Grace Community Church in Washington, shared his inspirational journey to becoming a pastor and how he helps fill a void in people’s hearts with the power and love of God. His most recent campaign, launched in congruence with the wildly popular World Cup, brought an incredible 200,000 people to build a relationship with Christ for the first time in their lives.
“To see over 200,000 people, it just, again, tells us people are thirsty — their souls are thirsty…Nothing in this culture can satisfy, and Jesus has living water. When people get a taste and see that the Lord is good, they tell their friends, it goes viral, and more people keep turning to Jesus,” Bradley said.
Those who responded to Bradley’s campaign were directed towards local churches and also received “discipleship content.”
Bradley discussed his spiritual journey and how being forced to leave his professional soccer career behind due to becoming ill led him closer to God and helped him find his new purpose in life. In a past interview with CBN News, Bradley explained that he didn’t always have a close relationship with God, noting that it wasn’t until he was required to read the Bible in a religious studies class that he found his faith. Wanting to learn more about Jesus, Bradley’s friend Mike patiently answered his questions about life and faith.
After experiencing great success in his life, Bradley shared that during that time something special and important was still missing, noting that his conversations with Mike helped him realize that Jesus was the missing piece. Since his revelation, Bradley is now giving that same experience to others who seek his inspirational leadership in the church and are encouraged by his story to fill the void in their lives with the Lord’s lessons and love.