Together 4 Good: Making Sense of Life and Faith

What is worship actually meant to be? In this conversation, Pastor Nate sits down with Bethany’s Director of Music, Rick Seaton, to talk about the role music plays in shaping faith, community, and the experience of worship. Together, they explore the depth of Lutheran musical tradition, the tension between old and new, and why worship is about something far deeper than personal preference. This is...

What if the resurrection doesn’t tie everything up neatly, but actually disrupts how we understand God, faith, and even reality itself? In John 20, the story is full of confusion, questions, and unexpected encounters—and maybe that’s exactly the point. What You’ll Learn: Why belief in John’s Gospel is more about trust than certainty How the resurrection story invites questions, not just answers Wh...

You wouldn’t expect a conversation about Robert’s Rules of Order to say something meaningful about faith—but this one does. Pastor Nate sits down with Kirby Glad to explore how structure, fairness, and even the way we run meetings can reflect something deeper about life in Christ. It’s thoughtful, surprisingly engaging, and grounded in a simple truth: when people come together with different persp...

What if the cross isn’t just about what happens after we die, but about how we live right now? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate reframes the crucifixion—not as a transaction, but as liberation. Instead of asking how we earn God’s favor, we’re invited to see how God meets us in the middle of real life: in struggle, in grief, and in the mess we try to hide. This conversation opens...

What does it look like to show up for people on the hardest days of their lives? In this episode, Pastor Nate sits down with Pastor Laurie Jeddeloh, a hospital chaplain and Director of Pastoral Care, to talk about faith, grief, and what it really means to care for people in moments of uncertainty. Together, they explore how God meets us not with easy answers, but with presence, compassion, and gra...

What if we’ve been reading the story of the prodigal son all wrong? In this episode, Pastor Nate invites us to look again at Luke 15 and notice the tension we often miss—who is actually lost, and what does grace really look like? This is a story about more than one son, and a God whose love doesn’t wait for us to get it right. What You’ll Learn: Why context changes how we understand Jesus’ parable...

What is it about camp that stays with us long after summer ends? In this conversation, Pastor Nate sits down with Dave “Packer” Gunnlaugsson, the new executive director of Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp, to talk about calling, leadership, and the kind of faith formation that happens when kids are given space to be fully themselves. Together, they explore how camp becomes a place where anxiety can loo...

What if Genesis 1 isn’t just about how the world was made—but about how we’re meant to live within it? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate explores the deeper structure of the creation story and what it reveals about God, humanity, and the rhythm of life itself. From chaos to order, from constant work to intentional rest, this ancient text speaks directly into our modern, overwhelm...

Life in Christ is more than a personal belief—it’s a way of living together. In this episode of Together 4 Good , Pastor Nate sits down with Imran Siddiqui, Vice President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), to talk about the upcoming Rocky Mountain Synod Assembly and its theme: Vida en Christo — Life in Christ.  Their conversation explores how congregations, synods, and the wide...

What if Jesus’ healing miracles were never just about physical healing? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate explores one of the most dramatic healing stories in the Gospels. At first glance it looks like a story about demon possession and a miraculous healing. But when you look more closely, the story reveals something much deeper about how Jesus restores people, challenges social...

What does faith look like through the eyes of a child? In this special episode of the Together 4 Good podcast, Pastor Nate sits down with his kids, Miriam and Solomon (who is now twelve for the record), for a spontaneous conversation about church, Bible stories, confirmation, and what it’s like growing up in a pastor’s family. Along the way, they reflect on the feeding of the 5,000, favorite Bible...

The story of Cain and Abel is one many people remember from childhood—but often in a simplified way. We’re told it’s a story about jealousy. But when we slow down and actually read the text, something deeper begins to emerge. In this episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate explores how this ancient story raises important questions about worship, responsibility, and what happens when our hearts...

What does it mean for the church to show up faithfully in a digital world? In this conversation, Pastor Nate Preisinger sits down with Pastor Joseph Wolyniak to talk about the Narthex Project — a Lilly-funded initiative helping churches rethink digital ministry in a post-Christian age. Together they explore storytelling, online faithfulness, loving enemies in comment sections, and how the gospel s...

Are sheep and goats really that different? In Matthew 25, Jesus paints a powerful vision of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting the imprisoned. But is this story about sorting good people from bad people—or something much deeper? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate reframes the “sheep and goats” passage not as a moral scoreboard about heaven and hell, but as an unv...

Why do people stay connected to church in a world where belief feels uncertain and worship can sometimes feel ordinary? In this episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate sits down with Senior Ministries Co-Coordinator Pastor Jane Ritterson to talk about “thin spaces,” embodied prayer, doubt, death and dying, and why community still matters. This conversation explores the tension between belief and t...

What if the Book of Jonah isn’t really about a fish at all—but about mercy? In this episode of Sunday School Remix, Pastor Nate takes us beyond the familiar children’s version of Jonah and invites us to wrestle with the deeper question at the heart of the story: Have we turned God’s blessings inward, or are we living as a blessing to others? This isn’t a story about being afraid of running from Go...

This week on Together 4 Good , Pastor Nate sits down with Dr. Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi, Associate Professor of Leadership and Formation at Iliff School of Theology and keynote speaker for the upcoming Rocky Mountain Synod Assembly. Together, they explore: Why vocation is more than employment How congregations discern their calling The difference between growth and vitality Why numbers don’t define f...

What if the story of Jesus turning water into wine isn’t really about wine at all? In this episode of Sunday School Remix , Pastor Nate revisits one of the most talked-about (and most misunderstood) miracles in the Gospels: Jesus at the wedding in Cana. On the surface, it feels like a lighthearted story—Jesus keeps the party going. But when you slow down and look at the cultural, historical, and t...

Disclaimer: The audio is slightly less than optimal in this episode. Pastor Nate is aware of the issue and working on resolving it. In this episode of Together 4 Good , Pastor Nate sits down with Deacon Debra to talk honestly and thoughtfully about immigration, social justice, and why the Bible keeps calling us back to compassion — especially for people on the move. Debra shares stories from Betha...

In this Sunday School Remix episode, Pastor Nate revisits one of the most misunderstood disciples in the Bible. The story of Thomas (John 20:19-31) is often used as a warning about doubt—but what if it’s actually a story about trauma, fairness, and Jesus meeting people exactly where they are? Through fresh storytelling and historical context, this episode reframes Thomas not as weak in faith, but...

The episode everyone has been waiting for is finally here. In this conversation, I sit down with Addison Andrix, Bethany’s newly hired Coordinator of Confirmation, High School, and Young Adult Ministry. Addison shares his story and what brings him to Bethany Lutheran Church. Addison grew up Lutheran in Minnesota and stayed connected to church through high school. And as most college kids he drifte...

In this episode of Together 4 Good, I’m joined by Kate Souther, who just completed her first semester at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, Georgia.  During our conversation we talk about what seminary is really like, why theology still matters, and how faith can grow not just through prayer and worship, but also through reading, studying, and thinking deeply.  Kate shares her experience study...

What does faith actually look like for Gen Z right now? In this episode of Together 4 Good , I sit down with two incredible young people, Addison , a high school sophomore, and Sophie , a first-year college student at Virginia Tech, to talk honestly about faith, friendship, and belonging in high school and college today. We talk about: How friendships shift from middle school → high school → colle...

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...

This is not a Christmas story. This is a story about perspective. About how the same moment can mean everything to one person—and almost nothing to another. Over the next twelve episodes on Together 4 Good , we’re sharing real stories that remind us we don’t all experience joy, meaning, or even God in the same way. This is not a Christmas story. But it is a real one. In this episode of Together fo...