Braden Ordination Service

Introduction

Ordination’s are special and nights like this are celebrations. We celebrate God’s faithfulness. We celebrate Braden’s willingness to answer God’s call on his life. We celebrate this church’s openness to seek God’s will and follow Scripture when it comes to God’s qualifications of a pastor. Pastors are not hired by churches. They are called by God. Tonight, we’re affirming God’s call on Braden’s life and we are publicly setting him apart for the ministry of the Word that Acts 6 and 2 Timothy 4 speak of.

Braden and Mikaela, tonight is a night that the two of you will remember the rest of your lives. You have your family here to support you. You have hundreds of church members, and friends from college and ministry here to encourage you. In the days to come, both of you will have incredible mountain top moments in ministry. You will see God’s power in saving souls and changing lives and you’ll feel absolutely invincible as you walk in God’s will! You’ll see the best of people as your church family prays for you, supports you, and serves others like Christ. You’ll be encouraged as people speak life into you and thank you for the hard work you put in. Braden, I know God has called you to this task, and we both believe that He equips those He calls. He has called you and He is continuing to equip you - I’m so excited for you!

Whenever I arrived at South Gate 2 years ago, we had a hole in our student ministry. I believed this would be a challenge for 2 reasons. First, the student ministry pipeline isn’t what it used to be as our colleges and seminaries have fewer and fewer people pursuing degrees in student ministry. Second, I had heard from multiple Lead pastors who the young guys coming out of college and seminary have a lot of head knowledge… and they are quick to let you know just how much head knowledge they have because they struggle with humility. They’re smart but stubborn. They’re loud but lazy. They value discipleship, but get distracted. They check in at 8 and clock out at 5. Their spouse isn’t supportive and doesn’t understand the expectations and responsibilities of being in ministry. The idea of ministry, answering the phone, or having to deal with a curveball happening after hours is seen as unacceptable and “not what I signed up for. Needless to say, when I heard from friends who had brought on young guys, I was less than optimistic… but I knew we needed leadership in this area… and that we have a God who supplies our needs as a Church!

We met as a team several times and discussed this position, and I spent weeks praying for God to send us a godly student minister. Thanks to mutual friends, Phillip and Elsy Shufford, Braden and I connected. He emailed in his resume, I responded over Thanksgiving break, and before we knew it, he was in my office December 4th and we were getting to know each other. Fast forward to December 10th and we interviewed him for the position. Fast forward to December 16th and I get a call from Braden, one day after their wedding, saying that he’d love to be our student minister. That was a whirlwind - and a reminder that God opens doors in His perfect timing!

I prayed for a godly student minister for our church… and several months in, not only had God answered that prayer, but I realized that God had provided me with a friend who loved Jesus and desired to shepherd not only students, but the flock here at South Gate. Braden, I thank the Lord for you often, and Mikaela, you’re such a blessing to him and my family and our church. There will be great days ahead… and there will also be valley’s. Just like there are seasons when things move perfectly, there will be seasons whenever nothing seems to work out the way you think. When people disappoint you. When ministry is draining you. When you even begin to doubt God’s call. I love you guys and want you to be prepared - those times will come. And when they do, look around you right now - soak in just how loved you are… but most of all, look up and remember that He who called you is faithful.

Tonight we celebrate God’s faithfulness in two ways, we first want to look at our responsibility as a church to Braden, and then we’ll charge Braden for God’s calling on his life.

Charge to South Gate: Cherish this Man and Encourage his Family

We don’t have ordinations often - in fact, I don’t think South Gate has ordained a pastor in quite some time! It can be easy for us to think that an ordination is all about what Braden will do for us as a pastor and about God’s calling on his life. We’ll look at that in a minute, but we as a church voted on this man. We called him as a student minister in January of 2025 and we voted on him as a pastor in June of 2026. Today, we are committing ourselves before the Lord to do several things because a congregation bears responsibility before God for how it treats its pastors. Jeremiah reminds us that shepherds are a gift from God to His people. Hebrews 13:17 says this

Hebrews 13:17 CSB

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

Braden, like me, will give an account to God one day for how he shepherded your soul as members at South Gate Baptist Church. There is a weight to that call! The pastor is to keep watch over your soul. To lead like Christ. To stand on Scripture. To guide and encourage. To love and pray. But there is also a responsibility here for the church. To obey and to submit so that Braden can shepherd with joy and not with grief. There is a lot of grief that comes with pastoral ministry. In the years to come, Braden, you’ll pick up bumps and bruises from bone headed decisions that you make… but there will be cuts and scars from faithfully carrying the burdens of people you love. There will be wounds that come - you know this! The crowd that wanted Jesus’ bread one day, wanted Jesus’ head a few months later. Wounds will come.

Church family, it’s our responsibility to not cut this man. Braden’s job is not to be famous, but to be faithful. He will pray for us. Teach us. Encourage us. And our responsibility is to cherish him and to encourage his family. This doesn’t mean that everything he does will align with your preference. After all, he’s a Colts fan in Chiefs Kingdom! Cut him some slack. Cherish him. Thank God for him. I’m not saying put him on a pedestal. I don’t mean that he’s perfect. We are to cherish him. Scripture calls for the church to honor those who labor among them and lead them in the Lord. Believe the best in this man. Refuse to let criticism grow in places where we should be sowing seeds and planting trees of encouragement. Every pastor eventually asks themselves this question: Does my church really love and support me? Our job is for him to never have to ask that question here at South Gate! You might not always agree, in fact, you won’t - but when you disagree, be slow to anger, quick to listen, and eager to seek understanding. A church that cherishes its pastors creates pastors who cherish their church.

“Because we believe the Bible, we ordain men who will preach it faithfully!”

2 Timothy 4:1–5 CSB

1 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom: 2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching. 3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. 4 They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But as for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

We see these headlines all too often these days: Pastor _______ disqualifies himself from ministry. I’ve seen this storyline, and I have good friends who are a part of that growing statistic, and it breaks my heart. Guys a few years into ministry and because of the stress or because of sin or because of something in their family, suddenly are no longer in ministry. Braden, you have 40 years until Social Security, so that’s a long runway we’re talking about here! 3 things God calls His under-shepherds to do, 1st

God Has Called You to Preach the Word

Braden, this is THE text for pastors. This is a passage you know by heart. I’m not going to say anything tonight that you don’t already know, because tonight isn’t a deep dive Bible study. Tonight is a commissioning charge that is centered on your calling. Paul could have told Timothy many different things here when it comes to preaching… but he starts with the ultimate audience of pastoral ministry. It’s not a body. It’s not people. It’s God Himself! Depending on leap years, you’ll have roughly 313 Wednesdays and Sundays with a student from the time they start 7th grade to the time they graduate high school. That’s a lot of time for sermons, lessons, Bible studies, camps, mission trips, and Romans and Christians events. But eventually that student will graduate. Parents will have teens, until they don’t. Even in the church itself, there will be people who are here… until they aren’t. And there will be days when it will be easy to preach what is popular. What sounds good. What attracts a crowd. Or, to not preach at all and just have lots of fun and games. As a pastor, our responsibility before God isn’t to draw a crowd, it’s to honor Christ and disciple His people!

While we’re thankful that you’re great with students, we’re not ordaining you as a student minister… but as a shepherd. Not as a preacher but as a pastor. While you’ll continue to pour into our students and you’ll disciple them and invest in their lives, you’ll also preach God’s Word to them. Preaching is a humbling thing because there are so many things that you can’t do when you’re preaching. You can’t change minds. You can’t open eyes. You can’t save souls. And even as you grow and become a better preacher, you’ll realize your limitations as even the best of preachers are the quickest to say that they aren’t all that good. But what you can do, what you must do, is preach Christ. This is your calling. When it is popular - preach the Word. When it costs you - preach the Word. When people celebrate it - preach the Word. When people resist it - preach the Word. Because the Word of God does the Work of God in the People of God for the Glory of God, and God promises that His Word doesn’t return to Him void. From now until Christ calls you home or comes back, in the good days and the bad days, preach the Word. Your ministry will only be as solid as the foundation it is build upon.

God’s People Need You to Shepherd with Patience and Precision

Sometimes we expect the Preaching of the Word to produce immediate results. Sometimes it does! In Acts 2 we see that Peter preached and 3,000 were saved and baptized! But more often than not, the ministry of the Word is the long game. Paul says to be ready in season and out of season. Correct. Rebuke. Encourage with great patience and teaching. Your life has changed dramatically over the last 4 years. You started at SBU. Met Mikaela. Grew in your walk with the Lord. God married. Began here at South Gate. Graduated from SBU. Found out you’re going to be a Father. Getting ready for seminary. Getting ordained. Those are massive accomplishments! And if we’re not careful as pastors, those things can quickly go to our head and we’ll think we are all that in a bag of potato chips and that we should expect more massive accomplishments in the short-term… Remember 1 Corinthians 3:5-6

1 Corinthians 3:5–6 CSB

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

In your life, you’ve been a faithful servant of Jesus Christ. You’ve worked hard. You’ve trained. You’re using your gifts well. But remember who gives the growth personally and in ministry: the Lord. We must be patient as we minister. And this is the task that Paul tells Timothy. Encourage others with great patience. Patience can be hard. Students won’t respond to messages - or maybe it’s the young adults who won’t text back… and there will be the temptation to be quick to anger. Someone will assume the worst in you, and there will be the temptation to be quick to be upset. Someone will be in your corner one minute, and then you’ll look behind you and they jumped ship because you didn’t fit their preference or standard, and you’ll be tempted to lose heart. Shepherd the flock with great patience. Play the long game. Be faithful with the little things, day by day. And you do this by being precise.

Paul tells Timothy to correct and to rebuke. There will be times in ministry when you have to rebuke people for missing the mark or drifting or downright sinning, and your responsibility as a shepherd is to warn them of the danger they’re in. There will be times when someone comes to you and you have the opportunity to correct them - to point them to God’s Word and show them a better way! You’ll do this - you’ll preach your heart out, you’ll pour into someone, and you’ll wonder, “Did that go in one ear and out the other?” It just might have! Remember that sheep grow slow… and as a shepherd, you must embrace patience and precision. Lead with the truth and love on people!

Your Family Is Your First Ministry

Paul lands the plane in this call to action with 3 words: Fulfill Your Ministry!

Ministry is a big word that means a million things to people these days. Ministry includes a lot of things for a pastor. You’ve experienced many of these, and they are blessings!

Seeing someone come to know Christ as Lord and Savior

Seeing someone feel a call to ministry themselves

Watching a relationship be restored

Baptizing someone

Being asked to pray with someone who is sick and hurting

There are mountain top moments in ministry! But there are also hardships.

There will be nights when you can’t sleep because your mind is stressed for your sheep. There will be nights when you can’t sleep because of something that someone said. There will be problems that you can’t even begin to fix. This is why Paul says to endure hardship. You will carry burdens that no one else will see, have conversations that no one else will know about, and do things that no one else will imagine… and there will be a temptation to “show your work.” To tell others to “watch the tape” of your work. Heed Paul’s caution here - stay controlled and remain faithful.

The greatest ministry that God has entrusted to you isn’t down in the Rock. It isn’t in our offices. It isn’t even here in this room. It’s right there! Before Scripture ever asks whether a pastor can manage a church, it asks whether he faithfully manages his home. That’s hard to do! That’s a balancing act, and you’ll drop the ball sometimes… that’s why it’s imperative for your marriage to be built on the Gospel and sustained by grace.

Over the last 20 months of knowing Braden and seeing the love that he has for Mikaela, and his yet to be named son, I can tell this is a man who desires to be this spiritual leader and provider that Scripture speaks of. Braden, fulfill that ministry first. Don’t win in the pulpit only to lose in the living room. This church will have another student pastor, this church will have another associate pastor, this church will have another lead pastor… but Mikaela doesn’t get another husband and your son doesn’t get another dad. Love Jesus deeply. Lead your family faithfully. And Love this church patiently. And one day, when it’s all said and done, may your response be like that of Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”