Meet Brenda

Brenda Seefeldt Amodea is a pastor, author, speaker, wife, mom and Oma. She pastors Larger Story Church, ( www.LargerStoryChurch.com), a hybrid church that meets over Zoom because conversations are a part of our worship. Brenda writes at www.Bravester.com.

Since Brenda fell in love with Jesus at the age of 15 she has lived a brave faith. Her brave faith means she has dared to love and dared to forgive. Which also means her life has had pain and so much betrayal. Yet she still chooses bravery over isolation. She still chooses trust over suspicion. Her writing and teaching come from that.

Brenda has been a pastor for 40+ years. She was ordained by the Assemblies of God. She left the Assemblies of God to serve at a nondenominational church for 25 years as their youth pastor. Brenda has worked with teens since 1981 to present. She has lived through the teen years in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and now into the 2020s. Imagine that collected wisdom! Imagine just the teen language trends she has lived through. Brenda brings all of this wisdom to this Bible study.

A brave faith to Brenda includes an honest relationship with God. Why:

• Because life is a broken road of faith. It is hard. With God you have a chance to know that you are loved therefore you are worthy and valuable. You were purposed before you understood you were purposed.
• Second, Christian values give you direction to know how to live better and resist temptation. Temptations—with their immediate gratification–are attractive to people with pain and rage.
• Third, a Christian perspective is outward-focused vs. a victimhood perspective which is inward-focused. With the love of a God who pursues you it is hard to remain a victim to your life. You desire to overcome.

Brenda writes at Bravester

Brenda defines bravery as your decisions to actually trust God. That is full of vulnerability because with God there is not the guarantee of the controlled outcome you want. She chooses trust in God anyway.

Because a broken heart is always a beginning. Brenda is not afraid of the pain of these brave decisions because she trusts God for the larger story outcome.

On her writer site you will find over 600 articles on brave faith decisions, brave dating decisions and brave parenting decisions. This is because Brenda has been a youth pastor since 1981 and has learned a lot from the wonderful teens she has met. To love teens is a brave and broken-hearted decision.

Brenda’s church

Brenda pastors Larger Story Church, a hybrid church over Zoom that began during the pandemic because some parents of teens asked her to and faith conversations were missing while we endured the pandemic. Conversations, worship, and prayer are what we are still.

We are a church you can’t “spectate” in. You will get to ask your questions (even your doubts) and overhear wisdom from an intergenerational mix of people. You will know that you were seen in our church. Brenda has 40+ years of church work to lead and then guide the conversations. She realizes that it is in these conversations from the Bible teaching that the life application takes place. Her words may not be remembered as much as what someone else has said.

This Bible study was created at the request of people in her church from the best of the conversations had together as a part of church worship. Brenda may have written the Bible study, but the lessons you will learn come from the people of Larger Story Church.

Statement of Faith

We Believe

The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit and is the living and active Word of God. We believe in the trinity of God–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That Jesus Christ is God’s only Son, born of a virgin, that he made complete payment for our sin nature through his sinless life, death on the cross, and resurrection. That the Holy Spirit is present and actively wooing us every day to the way of Jesus. We believe in the second coming of Christ, the resurrection of the living and the dead, and eternal life either with Christ or lost forever. Salvation is the free gift given to us through Jesus Christ, loved by the Father.

We Believe

God defines love as a pursuing force that is not dependent upon your response back. God is going to continue to pursue and love anyway because he is love.

God’s heart is redemption, which is his promise to us. God’s grace heals. The power of the cross forgives sin.

God is slow to anger, long suffering, compassionate, and has unfailing love for us. God lets change happen on our terms. He suffers while he gives us the chance to figure it out. This is because God continually pursues us with that unfailing love that defines the larger story.