Together 4 Good: Making Sense of Life and Faith

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 human one. In this episode, I tell a sto...

Christmas often feels like a finish line. The gifts are opened, the music fades, and life moves on. But what if Christmas was never meant to be the ending? In this episode of Together 4 Good, I reflect on the deep meaning of the incarnation — the bold claim that God didn’t stay distant, but became human in Jesus. Christmas isn’t just about a baby in a manger. It’s about God entering real, messy, o...

This Advent season, we’ve been taking a few quiet minutes each week to reflect on Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love — not as abstract ideas, but as lived realities. This week, the focus is Love. Not the loud, flashy kind. Not the kind that arrives with certainty or spectacle. But the kind that shows up while we’re still waiting. This spoken-word reflection centers on Mary — on waiting, on trust, and on a...

Every December, it feels like the whole world is shouting buy more, hurry up, don’t miss out. And honestly? Most of us listen. Whether it’s a late-night Amazon cart or that one gift we’re convinced will finally make Christmas feel right , we all know the rhythm. But underneath the purchasing and the pressure is something deeper — a soul-level ache that Advent invites us to notice rather than numb....

This Advent, I’ve been sharing a short spoken-word piece each week—little moments to help us breathe, pay attention, and remember what God is growing in us during this season. Today, we’re talking about Joy and not the thin, glittery version December tries to sell us, but the deeper kind. The kind that actually holds. Because if you’re anything like me, joy can feel a little buried this time of ye...

Have you ever felt like the anticipation of Christmas is better than the arrival?  My kids said that to me recently and honestly…they’re onto something.  There’s something about the lead up. The lights going up, the music (I bet your favorite Christmas songs are actually hymns, looking at you “Joy to the World,”) the catalogs arriving, that stirs more excitement in us than the day itself. And beli...

This Advent season, we’re taking a few minutes each week to reflect on Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. And to mix things up a bit, I’m sharing a short spoken-word piece every week. This week, I’m talking about Peace. Advent Peace isn’t the soft, candle-lit word we print on cards. It’s not the “if I could just get my life together…” kind of peace. And it’s definitely not the version we try to manufactu...

Every year, Advent shows up with candles, wreaths… and, strangely enough, apocalyptic readings. And if you’ve ever thought, “Wait—why are we talking about the end of the world when we’re gearing up for twinkle lights and baby Jesus?”—you’re in good company. In this episode, I’m talking about why the church calendar always begins with the end. Why Jesus keeps bringing up apocalyptic moments. And wh...

This Advent season, we’re taking a few minutes each week to reflect on Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. And to mix things up a bit, I’m sharing a short spoken-word piece every week. This week, I’m talking about Hope. Hope and fear can live in the same space inside us — same heartbeat, same tight shoulders — but they push us in very different directions. Fear shuts us down. Hope asks us to open up, even...

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? As I walk through the story, I share: Why this is one of the only miracles recorded in all four gos...

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, a...

When faith feels complicated or life gets messy, why do we still show up? In this guest-hosted episode of Together 4 Good: Making Sense of Life and Faith , Kimberly—Bethany’s podcast producer—takes over while Pastor Nate is away and looks back at our summer series, Why Are You Still Here? This collection of stories from the Bethany community reminds us what keeps us grounded in faith—hope, belongi...

It’s Pastor Nate’s birthday episode and he’s using it to talk about one of his favorite topics: spirituality in everyday life. Because let’s be honest sometimes faith can start to feel like another thing on the to-do list. Go to church.  Read your Bible. Say your prayers. And all of that matters, but having faith is so much more than just going to church or reading your Bible. It’s about connectio...

Everyone’s talking about artificial intelligence, but beneath the headlines and hot takes, many of us are quietly wondering: what does this mean for our faith? In this episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate explores our shared AI anxiety , that uneasy feeling that technology might outpace our humanity, and what Scripture has to say about it. From the story of creation to the healing miracles of J...

What if the moment you thought your faith was slipping away… was actually the moment it started growing deeper roots? In this episode of Together 4 Good , Pastor Nate wrestles with a truth that’s both unsettling and freeing: sometimes, you have to lose your faith to find it again. He explores why doubt isn’t a failure—it’s often the beginning of a more honest, mature faith. This episode unpacks ho...

Let’s be honest, a lot of us are doing everything right. We’ve got the job, the family, the house, the hobbies. Maybe even a decent morning routine. And yet…we’re not happy. Why? In this episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate digs into that question we all wrestle with but rarely say out loud. Why do we keep chasing the next thing, the next achievement, the next purchase, the next version of ours...

Have you ever sat with the question, “What am I supposed to do with my life?” You’re not alone. In this episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate wrestles with the big questions of purpose, vocation, and identity, and why chasing the “perfect” career or calling often leaves us more restless than fulfilled. Through scripture, stories, and some honest reflection, Nate reminds us of an important truth:...

Why doesn’t prayer work the way we want? You pray for healing, peace, or even a new job…and instead of a clear answer, it feels like God left you on “read.” If you’ve ever wondered why God doesn’t answer prayers, you’re not alone. In this episode of Together for Good , Pastor Nate explores the purpose of prayer from a Lutheran perspective, with a little help from three German theologians (Schleier...

Parenting is messy, beautiful, and exhausting. And for many of us, one of the big questions we carry is: How do I raise my kids in the Christian faith? In this episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate shares Christian parenting tips that he and his wife are learning as they raise their three kids; what’s working, what they’re still figuring out, and why faith has to be about more than just “good mo...

On today’s Together 4 Good , Pastor Nate pulls together two of our most recent conversations into one big theme: how to stop measuring yourself by the grind and start resting in God’s peace. First up: hustle culture. You know the drill: more hours, more hustle, more “look what I did.” Nate shares some personal stories (yes, including his grandpa’s trusty steel lunchbox) and the reminder that while...

On today’s episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate sits down with Pastor Carrie Bayless and her daughter Emmy for a conversation that was totally unplanned, and turned out to be one of the most real, funny, and thoughtful episodes yet. We talk about what it’s like growing up as a pastor’s kid (fun fact: Nate’s a PK too!), the expectations that come with being “the pastor’s family,” and why Emmy, a...

On this week’s episode of Together 4 Good, I sat down with Becky Robinson-Lavenburg. She grew up surrounded by music, sang with prestigious choirs as a kid, and now she’s studying to be a mental health counselor.  What I love about her story is the way music and faith keep circling back for her. She didn’t stick around church because she had to, but because she found a community she actually wante...

What does Division 1 football have to do with faith? A lot more than you might think.  In this episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate sits down with Michael Ziemba, former Indiana University football player, UPS “industrial athlete,” and Bethany member, to talk about how faith and football shaped his life.  From growing up in Florida, playing under Coach Tom Allen in the Big 10, to navigating inj...

In this episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate sits down with Susan Junge to talk about why, after 27 years, she’s still going to church. Her journey began in an interfaith marriage, sitting in a Lutheran church pew mostly so her husband could sing in the choir. But somewhere along the way, the Holy Spirit began tugging at her heart.  She was baptized as an adult, dove into the church choir, Step...

Four. Hundred. Episodes.  What a journey, what a milestone, what a celebration! That's a whole lot of conversation, curiosity, and community. To mark this milestone, Pastor Nate sits down with someone who's been part of this journey from the beginning, Pastor Gary Sandberg, for a deeply personal conversation about what keeps us coming back to church. Yes, the headlines continue to shout about chur...