Together 4 Good: Making Sense of Life and Faith

Welcome to the Together 4 Good podcast! In this episode, Pastor Nate sits down with Garth Englund III to explore the beauty and depth of the liturgical seasons . Garth shares how a powerful Holy Week experience in his childhood sparked a lifelong love for the rhythms of the church year. Together, they discuss how these seasons help us align our lives with the life of Jesus, offering opportunities...

Creativity & the Divine | An Interview with Colleen Maki Welcome to the Together 4 Good podcast! In this week's episode, Pastor Nate sits down with Colleen Maki, Coordinator of Media at Bethany Lutheran Church, to explore the deep connection between creativity and faith. They dive into the creation story in Genesis 1, reflecting on God as Creator and how our own creativity can be a spiritu...

Welcome to the Together 4 Good podcast! In this week's episode, Pastor Nate sits down with Peter Hancock to talk about his work as an entrepreneur and the ways that he finds calm in the midst of his active and high-pressure work. The conversation spans stories about vulnerability, the importance of exercise, how a faith community provides connection and support, and much more. In this episode you...

Together 4 Good Podcast Show Notes Episode Title: Finding Calm in the Chaos Welcome to the Together 4 Good podcast! In this week's episode, Pastor Nate reflects on the chaos that many are feeling in the world right now and offers some thoughts on how our life of faith can provide calm during uncertain or overwhelming times. Nate discusses the ways that believing in a Higher Power opens us up t...

Pastor Nate, Colleen Maki, Kevin Dragseth, and Bryan Jaster all sit down to talk about the importance of caring for people who are done with church. In this wide-ranging conversation, the four talk about their experiences feeling done with faith, what brought them back, and what the church can be doing to connect with those who are no longer connecting with a faith community.

Colleen Maki interviews Ellie Dieringer from Young Adults in Global Mission. Listen in and learn more about this incredible service year program of the ELCA. To learn more about Young Adults in Global Mission go to: https://www.elca.org/our-work/global-mission/young-adults-in-global-mission

This is a rebroadcast of a special episode from New Year's Day last year. In this episode, Pastor Nate offers a guided meditation that serves as a means of prayerfully examining the past year. Based on the St Ignatius Examen, this guided time of prayer and reflection is the perfect way for you to look back on last year and move into next year with a sense of God’s presence in your life. Take a qui...

During the fourth week of Advent, Pastor Nate offers a Bible study on the theme of love. During this busy season, you are invited to take time to dive into the themes of Advent through these deep studies of scripture. In this episode, we carefully study 1 Corinthians 13.

During the third week of Advent, Pastor Nate offers a Bible study on the theme of hope. During this busy season, you are invited to take time to dive into the themes of Advent through these deep studies of scripture. In this episode, we carefully study Luke 1:39-55.

During this second week of Advent, Pastor Nate offers a Bible study on the theme of peace. During this busy season, you are invited to take time to dive into the themes of Advent through these deep studies of scripture. In this episode, we carefully study Ezekiel 37:1-14.

During the first week of Advent, Pastor Nate offers a Bible study on the theme of hope. During this busy season, you are invited to take time to dive into the themes of Advent through these deep studies of scripture. In this episode, we carefully study Luke 2:1-20.

On this special episode of Together 4 Good, Pastor Nate offers some reflections on the importance of giving thanks. But as a special treat - Pastor Nate also invites on high schoolers from the high school youth group to hear their thoughts on the holiday.

In this episode, Pastor Nate invites us to reframe the ways that we think about prayer. He dives into why we pray, what it can do for our connection with God as well as some different ways to pray that you might not have considered.

This special Prayer and Study episode is designed to provide a time of calm, peace, and reflection. You will be guided through a time of deep reading of Luke 12:49-56 and invited to wonder, feel, and reflect on what God might be saying to you directly through these words of scripture.

Pastor Nate shares some theological insight into how we as people of faith engage with issues of government and politics. He also shares his reflection from the Night of Unity service.

Sometimes, even deeply religious people go through seasons when their tried-and-true faith practices don't bring the same connection to God as they used to. In this episode, Pastor Nate adapts some spiritual practices so that they can be used to connect with God even if you aren't feeling particularly religious.

Have you ever thought that church was boring? What if that's a good thing? In this episode, Pastor Nate talks about the importance of boredom in our life of faith and how we as a society have become too focused on entertainment and amusement.

Pastor Nate discusses the ways that the church often talks about the message of Jesus and compares this with what Jesus himself actually says about his mission in the scriptures. Listen in as we explore Jesus' words with new eyes.

In this episode, Pastor Nate offers some ideas about how to connect with God during the other days of the week. How can we be people of faith when we aren't in the sanctuary, what's so important about our worship service on Sunday mornings and what is worship really about?

Pastor Nate interviews Bryan Jaster about a difficult experience during his college years when he wanted to give up on the church and the ways that the church pieced him back together afterward.

Pastor Nate discusses the ways that doubt shouldn't be something we are afraid of, rather it can be something that draws us deeper into our relationship with God and the community of faith.

In this episode, Pastor Nate shares a lot of thoughts about paradoxes, the human predicament, Jesus' incarnation, God's grace, and how all these pieces fit together to try and save us from the belief that we are capable of saving ourselves.

Pastor Nate sits down with long-time Bethany member, KB to talk about his work in business development. The two discuss the importance of relationships and how we can share our faith with others in subtle, non-threatening ways.

In the summer of 2024, Bethany is beginning a preaching series on the importance of spiritual practices. As part of this focus, we are re-releasing podcast episodes from Lent 2021 that dive deeply into the explanation of some practices mentioned during the sermon series, and some not covered in the series. In this episode, listen in as Pastor Nate discusses embodied forms of prayer such as running...

In the summer of 2024, Bethany is beginning a preaching series on the importance of spiritual practices. As part of this focus, we are re-releasing podcast episodes from Lent 2021 that dive deeply into the explanation of some practices mentioned during the sermon series, and some not covered in the series. This Spiritual Practice episode explores the practice of the Centering Prayer and Silence. T...