Together 4 Good: Making Sense of Life and Faith

BONUS EPISODE - Advent Week 1: Hope | From Fear to Hope

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 just a little. In this reflection, I’m naming that tension we all feel when life is unclear, and why Advent is the perfect time to lean toward hope while we wait for Jesus to show up. If you’re needing that shift toward hope this week, I’m right there with you. Join us this season https://bethany-denver.org [https://bethany-denver.org]

What the Feeding of the 5,000 Really Teaches Us About Community and Generosity

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 gospels * The small detail most people miss, Jesus organizing the crowd into little communities * What happens in our hearts when someone goes first in generosity * Why “You give them something to eat” might be the real invitation * How gratitude, neuroscience, and faith overlap in surprising ways * Why Thanksgiving is not only giving thanks but giving it back * How sharing even a little of what we have can bring God’s kingdom closer My hope is that this story shapes your Thanksgiving week with a deeper sense of abundance, gratitude, and community. Thank you for being here. Truly.Stay in peace, friends. Sunday School Remix is a new Together 4 Good series re-examining familiar Bible stories to uncover what they really tell us about faith, humanity, and grace today.  💬 Tell us what story you want to see remixed next! 🙏 Bethany Lutheran Church ELCA | Cherry Hills Village, CO https://linktr.ee/bethanydenver [https://linktr.ee/bethanydenver] 📍 Listen & Subscribe:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/together-4-good-conversations-on-faith-family-and/id1529196060https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/together-4-good-making-sense-of-life-and-faith/id1529196060 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/together-4-good-making-sense-of-life-and-faith/id1529196060]  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0aFHcs9xjcRK54uXJzUBbH?si=VwBUEjyQQnieXyKHdkcfvA [https://open.spotify.com/show/0aFHcs9xjcRK54uXJzUBbH?si=VwBUEjyQQnieXyKHdkcfvA]

Sunday School Remix: Adam & Eve — Shame, Blame, and the Real Story

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, and the temptation to “play God.” Maybe the serpent wasn’t Satan.Maybe the fruit wasn’t an apple.And maybe the real “fall” was never about disobedience at all — but about shame and blame. In this episode: * * The surprising details Genesis actually says (and doesn’t say) * * Why calling the serpent “Satan” misses the point * * The connection between the fig tree and Jesus’ last week * * How shame and blame became humanity’s oldest reflex * * What it means to let God be God — and live unashamed ✨ Sunday School Remix is a new Together 4 Good series re-examining familiar Bible stories to uncover what they really tell us about faith, humanity, and grace today. 📍 Listen & Subscribe:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/together-4-good-conversations-on-faith-family-and/id1529196060https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/together-4-good-making-sense-of-life-and-faith/id1529196060 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/together-4-good-making-sense-of-life-and-faith/id1529196060]  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0aFHcs9xjcRK54uXJzUBbH?si=VwBUEjyQQnieXyKHdkcfvA [https://open.spotify.com/show/0aFHcs9xjcRK54uXJzUBbH?si=VwBUEjyQQnieXyKHdkcfvA] 💬 Tell us what story you want to see remixed next! 🙏 Bethany Lutheran Church ELCA | Cherry Hills Village, CO https://linktr.ee/bethanydenver [https://linktr.ee/bethanydenver]

Why We’re Still Here: Stories of Hope, Belonging, and Grace

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, belonging, and grace. From the “God-size hole” that faith fills to the “foreverness” of church that anchors us, these voices reflect what it really means to be part of something bigger than ourselves. You’ll hear moments of honesty, humor, and deep connection that show how faith is lived through people—on mountaintops, in worship, and everywhere in between. 💙 Whether you’ve been at church forever or you’re just finding your way back, may these stories remind you why you’re still here, too. 🎧 Listen now:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/together-4-good-conversations-on-faith-family-and/id1529196060https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/together-4-good-making-sense-of-life-and-faith/id1529196060 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/together-4-good-making-sense-of-life-and-faith/id1529196060]  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0aFHcs9xjcRK54uXJzUBbH?si=VwBUEjyQQnieXyKHdkcfvA [https://open.spotify.com/show/0aFHcs9xjcRK54uXJzUBbH?si=VwBUEjyQQnieXyKHdkcfvA] Follow Bethany Lutheran Church for more reflections and the best moments from the show: https://linktr.ee/bethanydenver [https://linktr.ee/bethanydenver]

Everyday Spiritual Practices: How to Find God Between Sundays

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 connection and relationships. Remembering that God is bigger than any one practice or person. After 15 years as a pastor, Nate admits that worship and Bible study can sometimes feel more like work than rest, so he’s learned to look for God in other places, too: in gratitude before a meal,in a walk under the trees,in the rhythm of a ritual that brings you peace,or even in a sticky note on your bathroom mirror that reminds you:God’s here. He shares how the Bible talks about forgetting and remembering God and how spiritual practices are really just ways to help us remember who God is, who we are, and who we’re called to love. 📖 In this episode: * Forgetfulness vs. sin and why “ah shoot, I forgot” might be a gentler way to understand grace * How your faith practices can change with the seasons of your life * Why ritual and repetition (yes, even lighting the same Advent wreath every year) matter * What gratitude and nature teach us about remembering God * And why even a few seconds of stillness can be an act of worship This episode is a reminder that God’s already here — in your work, your car, your chaos, and your quiet. You don’t have to be in church to be close to Him. 🎧 Listen now:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/together-4-good-conversations-on-faith-family-and/id1529196060 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/together-4-good-conversations-on-faith-family-and/id1529196060] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0aFHcs9xjcRK54uXJzUBbH?si=VwBUEjyQQnieXyKHdkcfvA [https://open.spotify.com/show/0aFHcs9xjcRK54uXJzUBbH?si=VwBUEjyQQnieXyKHdkcfvA] Follow Bethany Lutheran Church for more reflections and the best moments from the show: https://linktr.ee/bethanydenver [https://linktr.ee/bethanydenver]