Together 4 Good: Making Sense of Life and Faith

We all know the story of the Good Samaritan. Most of us learned it in Sunday school as a lesson about being kind, helping others, and doing the right thing. But Jesus wasn’t just giving us another moral rule to follow. In this Sunday School Remix episode, I take a deeper look at Luke 10:25–37 and the moment that prompted Jesus to tell this parable in the first place. A lawyer—someone who knew all...

In this episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate talks with Addison Andrix, Bethany’s new youth director, about the youth mission trip to San Diego. They share stories from the road, service projects, border learning, late-night conversations, and the big faith questions students carried home with them. This is a conversation about youth ministry, compassion, privilege, community, and what happens...

What if the parable of the mustard seed is not just about something small becoming big? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate looks at Luke 13:18-19 and invites us to see the kingdom of God as something disruptive, surprising, merciful, and deeply welcoming. Jesus’ vision is not empire, power, or control. It is small acts of mercy that make room for people to rest, belong, and find h...

In this episode of Together for Good, Nate sits down with Kate Souther after her first year of seminary to talk about what big theology has to do with everyday life. They explore the Book of Job, loving people we tend to exclude, creation care, scapegoating, and why grace keeps us moving without despair. Kate also shares what is drawing her toward parish ministry and the holy gifts of baptism and...

What if the Ten Commandments are not about earning God’s love, but about learning how to live after being set free? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate looks at Exodus 20 and reframes the commandments as a gift rooted in grace, freedom, and community. God frees Israel first, then shows them a new way to live that does not repeat the fear, control, and exhaustion of Egypt. What You’...

What does faith have to say when life feels stressful, uncertain, or too much to carry alone? In this episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate talks with Deacon Debra about Bethany Day Camp, the Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp curriculum, and how Philippians 4:6–7 helps kids and adults bring their anxiety, questions, and gratitude to God. What You’ll Learn: How Bethany’s Day Camp connects with Rainbow...

You’ve heard the story of Adam and Eve before: a snake, an apple, a garden, and a whole lot of trouble. But what if that’s not what the story was ever meant to be about? In this first episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate digs into the Garden of Eden story with grown-up eyes. Together, we look at how this ancient story speaks to our world today, where we still wrestle with control, guilt, an...

Pastor Nate talks with Pastor Eric Shafer, Pastor in Residence at Global Refuge, about refugees, immigration, faith, and what it means to love our neighbors in real life. This Together 4 Good conversation explores why refugee support is deeply connected to Christian faith, Lutheran history, and the biblical call to welcome the stranger. Eric shares how Global Refuge supports immigrants and refugee...

What if the story of the fiery furnace is not about having enough faith to get what you want? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate looks at Daniel 3 and the deeper story beneath the Sunday school version: exile, identity, control, fragile power, and a faith that trusts God beyond the outcome. What You’ll Learn: Why the fiery furnace story is about more than survival How exile shaped...

Pastor Nate sits down with his dad, Rev. David Warren Preisinger, for a conversation about church history, family, faith, and why people keep showing up even when church gets messy. Dave shares what it was like to be part of Seminex, the Seminary in Exile, and how that experience shaped his understanding of leadership, community, and trusting God in uncertain moments. At the heart of this episode...

What if Noah’s Ark is not really about a floating zoo? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate looks at Genesis 6–9 and explores how this familiar childhood story is actually about God’s grief over human violence, the undoing and restarting of creation, and the promise God makes through the rainbow. This is not a simple kids’ story. It is a story about violence, mercy, covenant, memory...

What does it mean to believe someone when their pain, illness, or disability is not visible? In this episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate talks with Wayne Connell, founder of the Invisible Disabilities Association, about chronic illness, compassion, suffering, isolation, and the kind of community people need when life becomes hard in ways others cannot see. This conversation is about more than...

What if the story of Moses and the burning bush is not about Moses being brave, but about God calling someone who was unsure, reluctant, and full of questions? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate looks at Exodus 3 and 4 and explores how God meets Moses in the wilderness, hears the suffering of the people, and works with what Moses already has. What You’ll Learn: Why Moses’ call beg...

In this episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate talks with Julie Hutchinson about resilience, neuroscience, faith, and what it means to lead from the heart instead of reacting from stress. Julie shares how her own experience with burnout, anxiety, and surrender led her into work that helps leaders, executives, and organizations reconnect their minds, bodies, and spiritual lives. Together, they exp...

What if the miracle of Pentecost is not just that people spoke in different languages, but that people heard one another across every division? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate explores Acts 2, the Jewish festival of Shavuot, the Tower of Babel, and the Holy Spirit’s work of sending people outward in love. Pentecost is not about keeping faith private. It is about God’s Spirit mo...

In this episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate sits down with his oldest daughter, Evelyn, for a snow day conversation about faith, confirmation, doubt, church, and what it means to grow into your own understanding of God. Together, they talk about the questions many people carry but do not always say out loud: What if faith does not look the way we expected? What if the Bible is meant to be wres...

In this Sunday School Remix I take another look at one of Jesus’ most well known miracles, the feeding of the 5,000, and explore a different angle than what many of us learned in Sunday School. Yes, Jesus multiplies bread and fish, but what if that is not the only miracle happening on that hillside? You'll hear:00:00 – Introduction to the Episode01:00 – Why This Miracle Appears in All Four Gos...

In this episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate talks with Krista Kilgus, Executive Director of Urban Servant Corps in Denver, about service, community, and what it means to follow where the Holy Spirit is leading next.  Urban Servant Corps has spent decades forming young adults through intentional community and service, and now the organization is entering a new chapter: creating a pilot program...

What if discipleship is less about proving yourself and more about being invited into a new way of life? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate looks at Matthew 4:18–25, where Jesus calls his first disciples and gives ordinary fishermen an extraordinary invitation: “Follow me.” This familiar Sunday school story becomes something deeper when we notice who Jesus calls, where he goes, an...

What happens when you finally get everything you thought you wanted, and it still feels… empty? In this conversation, Pastor Nate sits down with longtime friend and filmmaker Nick Stroczkowski to wrestle with ambition, identity, faith, and the quiet realization that fulfillment might not be waiting somewhere in the future. Together, they explore what it means to live fully in the present, rediscov...

What if the story of manna in the wilderness is about more than food? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate looks at Exodus 16 and the Israelites’ struggle to trust God after leaving Egypt. This story invites us to notice how often we long for the past, grasp for more, and miss the quiet gift of enough. What You’ll Learn: Why the Israelites struggled to trust God after leaving Egypt...

Coming up on the Together 4 Good podcast, Pastor Nate sits down with his longtime friend Adam Arends, a pastor in the Buffalo, NY area. They’ve known each other for years, and this conversation goes right to the heart of a question a lot of people are quietly asking: what is church actually supposed to be about? Adam shares his story—growing up in the church, stepping away, questioning a lot of it...

What if the resurrection isn’t just about what happens after we die—but about what God is doing in us right now? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, we revisit John 21 and Peter’s story after the resurrection. It’s a moment filled with confusion, shame, and unfinished business. But instead of avoiding it, Jesus steps right into it—offering not just forgiveness, but purpose. What You'll Lea...

Coming up on the Together 4 Good podcast, we’re revisiting a conversation that feels especially timely this week. Over the last couple of months, I’ve had the chance to interview several of the speakers who will be part of the ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod Assembly. The theme this year is “Vida en Cristo / Life in Christ,” and it’s been shaping a lot of what I’ve been thinking about. So while this epi...

What if Jesus’ most famous commands—turn the other cheek and love your enemies—aren’t about weakness at all, but something far more radical? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, we take a closer look at Matthew 5 and the Sermon on the Mount, uncovering a deeper, more honest way of living that invites us into transformation rather than avoidance. It’s a conversation about self-reflection, commun...