Great Questions, Great Conversations

Episode 48 - Helpful Advice for Parents in 2025 with Seth Fitzsimmons

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 03:00:00 -0500

Parenting has its challenges in every generation. But some would argue that the onslaught of things pushing on families today is unrivaled in history. From the pace of life, dual incomes, cell phones and the media culture it is a challenge to stay focused on the job at hand. To give us some thoughts based on years of walking with kids and families, Seth Fitzsimmons, principal of a large Lutheran elementary grade school (St. Paul’s), joins us to talk about some of the challenges and some of the opportunities that this time in history is giving parents along with his BEST piece of advice to parents!

In our talk we reference a few things you may want to check out for yourself. Here are the links:

www.waituntil8th.org – helping kids be kids longer

The Jesus Storybook Bible - https://a.co/d/iXUl5Vw

The Story for Kids - https://a.co/d/9g0FKET

If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and leave a comment or, if you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 47 - Marriage Skills: Part 2 with Brandon Steenbock

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 28 May 2025 03:00:00 -0500

We continue our conversation from last week with Dr. Brandon Steenbock especially looking at the topic of Marriage Skills that would be really helpful for us to have, but that oftentimes… we never learned. Building on our conversation from the week before, we will continue to talk about three more skills that are very helpful as couples learn to better navigate the challenges that come in our marriages.

It is a great listen for all of those who are dating and engaged or hoping to one day be married in a marriage that functions well. Learning some of these skills will help your friendships today and give you a stronger foundation for marriage in the future too!

If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and leave a comment or, if you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 46 - Marriage Skills: Part 1 with Brandon Steenbock

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 21 May 2025 03:00:00 -0500

If you’re not married yet, you’ve likely got some ideas of how things will go. If you’ve been married, you know that many of those ideas and plans you had didn’t go exactly to plan. We’re joined by Dr. Brandon Steenbock, Staff Minister at St. Mark Ministries and an advisor to married couples and young people getting married for over a decade. In this episode we will talk about some of the challenges that married people are facing today that might be a bit different from a few decades ago. We will talk specifically about how to work on repairing a marriage that is hurting or breaking.

This talk was so good that we needed to do a second part, so please be sure to join us for next week’s part two of the Marriage Skills that can help us build a more Jesus centered and more satisfying marriage partnership.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and leave a comment or, if you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 45 - You’re Never Too Old with Carol Kolosovsky

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 14 May 2025 03:00:00 -0500

“Say thank you for the ideas that you don’t have time for today, because a time may come…” Author and retired teacher Carol Kolosovsky joins us on the podcast to talk about become an author and the journey that has led her to continue to write into her 70s. Not only will you hear about her story of how she got here, but Carol shares wisdom from a life that has loved her Savior well. If you’ve ever been tempted to give up on your dreams, or if you’ve thought you’re too old to pursue them, you’ll want to spend some time today with Carol and her story.

To purchase a copy of her first book “Little Lamb Gabe” you can find it at many online retailers including Amazon and Walmart. You can visit NPH as well: https://online.nph.net/little-lamb-gabe.html?srsltid=AfmBOoru6hzPJ_egjqBEFuTOgEKkddIblfHlbJoWk8lS4ojQeNr-gQMp

If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and leave a comment or, if you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 44 - The Power of the Gospel to Change Culture with Mark Paustian

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 07 May 2025 03:00:00 -0500

“If you want to change the culture, entertain it!” Story takes us someplace and all effective communication ultimately comes down to story. Our guest this week is author and professor Dr. Mark Paustian who will be talking about the power of a 2 minute story around a single truth and how we can use communication theory to share our faith and help people connect more deeply to Jesus. As the discussion winds down we hope you might consider a few questions:

What is your favorite Bible story?
Why that story? – What does it teach you or convey to you about Jesus?
What does it do TO you? What does that story do FOR you?
and lastly – How would you tell it to someone who needs to hear it?

Perhaps the greatest opportunity for sharing your faith might be listening to someone else tell of their challenges and you yourself might reply “That reminds me of a story, stop me if you’ve heard it?”

If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and leave a comment or, if you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 43 - Discovering Purpose with Kevin Festerling

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 03:00:00 -0500

Have you considered how your life, family or place of employment is built? This week, we are joined by President and Principal of Kingdom Prep Lutheran High School Mr. Kevin Festerling to talk about a high school experience that is building up young men to transform their communities and families. You will hear Kevin talk about the Pillars and Goals of the KP experience along with the challenges and opportunities of teen boys in a larger urban context. What does it look like to build a brotherhood?

After listening to the podcast, we hope you might be willing to share this with others and consider how you might volunteer your "Ministry of Presence" and answer the question that many teens have "Will someone be there with me??". It is the best way to help KP achieve their mission and ministry. To contact Kevin Festerling you can reach him directly at 414-507-4361

You can also visit - https://kplhs.org/

If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and leave a comment or, if you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 42 - Meditation and Online Church Possibilities with Jonathan Favorite

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 03:00:00 -0500

For the past 20 years or so, our culture has been waking up to the impact and power of meditation and the Bible actually has a lot to tell us about that. This week we are joined by Staff Minister Jonathon Favorite of 922 ministries and we'll spend some time talking about his ministry resource called "Favorite Meditations". It is a guided meditation through portions of the psalms that anyone can participate in. In addition we will talk about the potential for Online community and online church and the spread of Christianity in powerful ways through the tool that is the internet.

To check out Favorite Meditations please visit the link here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqXFXPmM-G2U0xqGEC3YaPw

If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and leave a comment or, if you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

2025 Holy Week Special

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 09 Apr 2025 03:00:00 -0500

As we kick off the new season of Great Questions, Great Conversations, Mike Westendorf sits down to talk with Pastor Pete Panitzke about the sequence of events between Palm Sunday and Jesus Resurrection Easter morning. Along the way in this conversation we will talk about some translation challenges that show up in the timeline, the topography of the area and the question of how many days. We hope this can be a helpful listen as you prepare to walk through Holy Week in your worship and personal devotion and Bible reading time.

If you enjoyed this conversation, please leave a comment or, if you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 41 - Followership Applied

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 03:00:00 -0500

Episode 40 covered the ins and outs of what Followership is and in this week's episode we will take a look at how it can be applied. Our guest is Prof. Don Kudek of Wisconsin Lutheran College who has spent a large part of his career studying the role of followers and the importance and benefit of training people to be better followers. As we'll see, a better follower requires leaders to lead with greater emotional intelligence that looks remarkably like the Bible's description of servant leadership.

While we take a little more look at the application in more of our business and cultural settings, we consider some of the takeaways for Christians as well.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast out of St. Paul's/The Bridge in Muskego, WI. You can learn more about our ministry at www.stpaulmuskego.org

If you have questions on this podcast or other ideas for future podcasts please email our host Mike Westendorf: mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Episode 40 - Followership Defined

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 03:00:00 -0500

Millions of dollars are spent every year in our country to developing develop better leaders. And yet, even if you are a leader, you spend much of your time following. In some estimates, 80% of the successful outcome is dependent on the work of the followers. So the question becomes, what is being done to develop better followers? Especially when many people in organizations aren't trying to be a leader, but enjoy supporting the purpose of the organization and satisfaction that comes when doing their part in a team environment.

In this podcast, we will take a look at the concept of "Followership" with Prof. Don Kudek of Wisconsin Lutheran College (and St. Paul's member too!). We'll talk about why this is an important topic in not only the business world, but in society in general. Next week we will take a look at applications of this idea along with how it fits within a Biblical worldview and thus, helpful for Christians to consider what it means to be a better follower.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast out of St. Paul's/The Bridge in Muskego, WI. You can learn more about our ministry at www.stpaulmuskego.org

If you have questions on this podcast or other ideas for future podcasts please email our host Mike Westendorf: mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Episode 39 - Loving Our Friends With Special Needs

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 03:00:00 -0500

Our guest on the podcast is Pastor Joel Gaertner, the Director for Special Ministries of the WELS (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod). The reality is that ALL of us have special needs, but many of us tend to wear them more on the inside than the outside. How can Christians and Churches be a more welcoming place for with special needs, especially those who have to navigate the challenges of bodies and minds that don't work the way that many others do.

We will spend some time talking about what people with special needs are wanting from their Christian brothers and sisters and how we can better reflect the hands and feet, the heart of Jesus to them. It's short and to the point, but here's a summary you can remember:

"Be Curious. Just do it! Fail forward. Keep going!" We hope this 40 minutes will be a good investment in our own self awareness to serve others!

You can learn more about Joel's ministry focus here: https://wels.net/serving-you/christian-life/special-ministries/

Leave a comment or, if you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org
Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 38 - Honoring Christians Who Have Died

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 22 May 2024 03:00:00 -0500

Reflections on Memorial Day and Ending Well

Memorial Day is thought of many different ways. A national holiday. The start of summer vacation. Family gatherings and cookouts. A day that honors those in the armed forces (That's actually Veterans Day in November). And then there is the actual intention - honoring those who have given their lives in military service to this country.

On the podcast this week, host Mike Westendorf and Pastor Pete Panitzke reflect on the value and importance for American Christians to pause and consider the sacrifice of men and women who gave their lives to protect the freedoms that we have enjoyed.

With the recent passing of Mike's father Paul (Vietnam Veteran), Mike shares some thoughts on the confident end of earthly life that we have in Christ and some of the comforts and lessons learned as his dad finished his earthly race. Lessons and conversations that hopefully help us wrestle with how we want our earthly lives as a Christian to end and to end them well - honoring God and showing the next generation how to die well too.

Leave a comment or, if you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 37 - Modern Mentorship and the Church's Need for Humility

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 15 May 2024 03:00:00 -0500

Our Guest this week is Jim Buske of Lighthouse Youth Ministry and he relayed a story he asked a man in the predominantly African American Garden Homes neighborhood of Milwaukee about the challenges the city and the neighborhood faces. His friends answer was informative, not just for minority communities, but speaks to an increasingly important need for all people groups.

The response? The neighborhood lacks "Uncles". The man or woman working in their yard or garage that the neighborhood young person could come and see what they were doing, learn by observing and asking questions. The neighborhood lacks trusted advisors and the younger generation is telling us the same. They don't need older people to be heroes, but they are wanting a trusted friend and advisor that they aren't necessarily related to.

This opens an important door for Christian men and women to serve younger generations and a huge opportunity for young people to connect to the Body of Christ (the church), Not for religions duty, but for Christian relationship and humility is the path to that deeper relationship.

In this episode we'll talk about some of the challenges of mentoring and the need for the church, young and old, to lead with greater humility as we seek to learn from one another and walk best in the commandment Jesus gave his church "Love One Another".

To learn more about Lighthouse Youth Ministries please visit: https://www.lighthouseyouthcenter.com/

Leave a comment or, if you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 36 - The What and Why of Voting in Church

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 01 May 2024 11:00:00 -0500

Voting is a significant topic in American culture, especially in an election year. But what does the "right to vote" really mean? While it seems straightforward, the reality of that vote changes in different contexts and today we want to talk about what voting is and means in the church specifically.

The podcast today gives important context to the why of voting and how voices without a vote are heard and acknowledged and how important it is for men to handle this responsibility Biblically, so that every voice is heard in a meaningful way. When done well, even when we disagree with the outcome, we have the strength of the word and promises of God that it is HIS kingdom that we are building and not our own. It's to that end that we want to vote well.

Leave a comment or, if you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 35 - Does God Love Me or My Behavior?

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 03:00:00 -0500

Have you ever wondered if God seems to care more about how we behave than who we are? It's honestly not fair of us to see the God of the Bible, the God of the cross and empty tomb this way, but in our world we tend to feel the constant judgements all around us. Whether it's at work, at home, in relationships, at church... we have opinions of others and we feel the opinions others have of us.

So what does God think of me? Does God love me? Or does God love my behavior? The answer... yes.

In this podcast we dig deep and open up a bit more of the motive for this conversation and the answers to the questions were refreshing and hopeful, because they are Biblically true. How can we live with greater peace and confidence in God's love for us??? Keep getting a hug from Jesus! Listen in and share your thoughts and questions.

If you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 34 - The Value and Importance of the Creeds

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 03:00:00 -0500

Why Lutherans Use Creeds in Church

Creeds are a statement of belief that help Christians express the basic truths that they believe, as both an individual or as a corporate church. Perhaps you already know this, but there is not a uniform agreement in the larger Christian church about the importance of validity of the Creeds. So why, in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, do our churches frequently use one of the three Ecumenical creeds in worship on an almost weekly basis?

In this Episode of GQGC we will dig into the origin and purpose of the creeds as well as their value and importance to helping us keep the main things the main things. All of us live by and have statements of faith. Even "No creed, but Jesus" is a creed - a statement of belief. The value of the Apostles, Nicene and Athanasian creeds is of significant help and importance to Christians living in the world today. We hope by the end of the episode you'll know more about why that is true.

If you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 33 - When Jesus Went To Hell

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 03:00:00 -0500

Understanding Jesus Descent into Hell

The Apostles Creed is a simple summary of the Biblical, Christian faith through the use of several statements that have rich theological depth to them. The second article, (or second paragraph of the creed) has to do with Jesus, who he is, what happened to him and what he does. As part of this creed, there is a line that says "He descended into hell" and this has left people asking questions. In today's podcast we talk about the origin passage for that in 1 Peter 3 and the timeline of Jesus suffering, his death, where his spirit went when he died and when he descended into hell and for what purpose. If this has been a confusing part of your understanding of the Christian faith, we hope this conversation will be helpful and hope filled to you as you consider what Jesus descent into hell means for you and me.

If you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 32 - Do You Have $80?

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 03:00:00 -0500

Three Thoughts on what God Has Already Given You

In a sermon from a few weeks earlier, Pastor Pete shared an illustration that involved $80 as he helped the congregation wrestle with our guild driven anxiety that fuels the "TRY HARDER" voice we all wrestle with from time to time. With the illustration comes a great conversation on what it means to have access to all the blessings of my heavenly Father. I don't have it, but my Father does.

We'll talk about the struggle to believe we believe and what God is expecting from us when it comes to the stewardship of the gifts he's given. Join us for a great illustration and conversation and let us know if you have questions as you join us!

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 31 - Aha's of Holy Week

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 03:00:00 -0500

Biblical Observations from the Passion Story.
One of the benefits of reading the Bible over and over is that we all mature through experiences. Wisdom comes from the combination of knowledge and experience and as we read the scriptures and become more familiar with the word of God in the Bible, we see more and more of God's truth and the application to our lives.

This week, we wanted to share several of those "Aha's" from Pastor Pete and host Mike Westendorf as they talk about some of the things they have learned as they have journeyed through the Word of God and life. May we all take the mindset that we have never learned the word of God so well that God can't still teach us as we age and mature.

If you have moments where God's word became clearer for you, please share them in the comments.

If you have questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email our host Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 30 - The Value and Challenge of Bible Translations

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 03:00:00 -0500

How different does this sound?

"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
and
“If anyone wants to follow me, let a person deny themself, take up their cross, and follow me.

Did you see it? "Must" vs. "Let a person" One is more direct and to the point, but has an edge that may go beyond the original language, the other is a bit more literal, but a little less readable. When it comes to Bible Translations, what issues arise? Why do we have so many? Are there strengths and weaknesses? How do I make a decision on which one to use? We spend some time digging into this topic in what we hope will be informative and insightful as you grow in reading the Bible and how to best do that.

If you have questions on this topic, or a suggestion on another topic, please email Mike Westendorf - mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 29 - Taking Up Your Cross - What Does This Even Mean?

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 03:00:00 -0600

In Luke 9:23 Jesus makes this comment "23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. "

For many of us we consider suffering to be the crosses that we bear. It makes a lot of sense, Jesus suffered on the cross, so he must be talking about learning how to deal with bad things and suffering well. But that is not what he means. In this episode of Great Questions, Great Conversations, Pastor Pete Panitzke helps explain what Jesus is talking about and with the help of some guidance from Prof. Daniel Deutschlander's book on the "Theology of the Cross", we'll look at these crosses in different seasons of our lives and how God helps us bear them.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 28 - When Men and Dads Feel Unqualified

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:00:00 -0500

The impact of Godly men can be profound on children, families and society. A force for good as they live out their roles as Christian men of God. When men and dads don't do life well, the destruction can be profound. Guilt tugs at all people, but in the culture of 2024 America, men find a lot of walls that exist between who men are told to be and who God calls them to be.

In this episode, Brandon Steenbock joins us for a dive into examining the walls that men need help breaking through and how to start again when men, and dads, feel they have blown it. By God's grace dads are even more than a shepherd at home, they are called to be "Father". We hope this episode will give perspective and encouragement to all who are praying for men to step into the identity God has given them.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 27 - A Helpful Talk About Sex - For Christian Families, Singles and Married Couples

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 03:00:00 -0500

In Today's episode we are joined by Pastor Brad Snyder who is also the chairman of "Conquerors Through Christ" a ministry dedicated to helping Christians Resist-Reject-Recover from explicit imagery use or addiction. It is no secret that talking about sex in the church is an uncomfortable topic and for many Christians we have lost the higher ground in the conversation, a topic that the Bible has much positive things to say.

So, what does it mean for us to be part of redeeming the conversation as we align it with God's word and cover it with God's Grace. In this episode there is practical advice for parents when it comes to sexual education of their young children through their teen age years. We'll talk about how married couples can grow in their understanding of sex from a Biblical perspective. And for single people we talk about what to do with the passion and desire for sexual intimacy while we wait for the time when God grants us a marriage partner.

After listening to the podcast, are there additional questions we might better wrestle with as Christians and the Church? Email Mike Westendorf: mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Learn more about the resources at Conquerors through Christ: https://conquerorsthroughchrist.net/ Great Questions,

Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 26 - When Family Sports and Church Collide

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 03:00:00 -0500

We want our kids to grow up in community. To be challenged, share in responsibility, grow friendships and relationships and sports is a great way to connect our kids to others and have a more positive outlet for all of that energy. But what happens as kids grow older and the demands of those communities begin to change, especially when it challenges relationships and experiences with the local church.

In this weeks podcast, Mike and his cousin Tanya will have an honest conversation about the tension that exists between sports schedules and attending worship regularly. This issue is not going away in American culture any time soon. Empathy, prayer and patience are some key ideas that will come out of this as we learn to hold the tension between God's command for sabbath rest and the challenge of living in an increasingly less Christian environment to raise our kids. How might we best serve each other, keep one another close and release the Gospel into the worlds that we are a part of. We hope this will be an encouragement for us to have healthy conversations on this challenging topic with fellow Christians.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's and The Bridge Lutheran church in Muskego, WI. For more information visit www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 25 - Learning Some Lessons for Life

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 03:00:00 -0500

Every years the staff at St. Paul's/The Bridge takes in the Global Leadership Summit, a conference that gives those leading families, organizations, and churches training and awareness of ways to consider to improve in their various leadership and organizational roles. Arica Drezdzon and Mike Westendorf open up their notebooks to talk about some of the biggest takeaways from their time at this year's conference. If you're looking for a spark in your own personal growth, this podcast will give you some of the big ideas, practical takeaways and a few resources that can help you as you learn some new lessons for life.

Global Leadership Talk info: https://globalleadership.org/365
Craig Groeschel book: https://www.craiggroeschel.com/books
James Cleary Atomic Habits: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
The Chosen: https://new.thechosen.tv/

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's Lutheran and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. Please visit www.stpaulmuskego.org for more information.

Episode 24 - Can a Parent Really Be a Pastor?

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 03:00:00 -0500

The big C church, the one on the corner that people go to worship God and be part of a congregation, really finds it's foundation in the home. When a Christian man and woman become husband and wife with Jesus as the foundation, their joined lives represent the smallest functioning example of the "Body of Christ". When children come into that family, a child's first experience of what it means to be part of the "body of Christ"... the church... is modeled in the home.

That likely sounds scary or just flat out wrong for those of us who didn't train to be a professional Pastor, but the reality is that the big C church is usually healthiest when mom and dad are Pastors, or "shepherds" at home. So what does that mean? What does it look like to worship at home? And what if this concept is too new and you feel that, as a parent, it's too late. Join us on the conversation as we talk more about the biological family church and how to get started.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's Lutheran and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. Please visit www.stpaulmuskego.org for more information.

Episode 23 - The Family Church and Combating Loneliness

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 03:00:00 -0500

Loneliness is an epidemic in our society today. Recent studies show that 58% of the general population struggle with a deeper level of aloneness while up to 78% of our young people in Gen Z claim a deep sense of longing for connection and yet fail to find it. In this podcast we discuss one of the features of God's church that, at least at St. Paul's/The Bridge we call the Family Church. While we all have a biological family of origin that we come from, we often grow apart and grow closer to others. What role can God's church play to help facilitate the Functional Family Church - a place that can provide a respite from loneliness for many others. We hope this episode can get us thinking about how we can work together to make this happen.

Original Family Church Sermon Series and materials:

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's Lutheran and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. Please visit www.stpaulmuskego.org for more information.

Episode 22 - Is God Serious About How I Lead? - Lessons in Leadership Part 2

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 03:00:00 -0500

Mike Westendorf, Arica Drezdzon and Paul Schuessler continue the conversation on simple leadership lessons. If leadership is influence, then we all have influence so we start with a look at the serious view God takes on leading well.

The team talks on some of the leadership pieces of advice in Carey's blog on 25 leadership insights for young leaders. Here is the link to Carey's blog post that is the subject for this podcast: https://careynieuwhof.com/25-random-pieces-of-advice-for-leaders-in-their-20s-30s-or-40s/

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's Lutheran and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. Please visit www.stpaulmuskego.org for more information.

Episode 21 - How do we grow as leaders? Thoughts on Leading Well, Part 1

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 03:00:00 -0500

"Everybody Wins when the leader gets better" “Leadership is influence and everyone has influence.” “A humble leader can learn from anyone.” How do you respond to these leadership quotes? If leadership is really influence then all of us lead in some capacities and all of us have moments where we follow and support leaders.

In this episode, we share some thoughts on a blog post by another developer of leaders named Carey Nieuwhof who starts off the post with this quote: "I was recently talking to a friend who had turned 50 a couple of years ahead of me. He surprised me by saying that your 50s are largely pre-determined by how well you lived your 30s and 40s."

Paul Schussler, Arica Drezdzon and Mike Westendorf talk about some of the simple leadership lessons that stood out to them in their own journey in leadership and as they wrestle with improving. We hope the discussion will be helpful to you as you lead in your various roles in life, especially for young leaders in their 20s, 30s and 40s.

Here is the link to Carey's blog post that is the subject for this podcast: https://careynieuwhof.com/25-random-pieces-of-advice-for-leaders-in-their-20s-30s-or-40s/

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's Lutheran and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. Please visit www.stpaulmuskego.org for more information.

Episode 20 - Disappointment, Community and a Christian Witness

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 12 Jul 2023 03:00:00 -0500

Disappointment shows up in a very real, tangible, physical and emotional way when the gap between our expectation and the result is wide. We've all experienced it and for many of us, recovering from it is a real journey. In some cases disappointment is an eye opening experience when we realize just how much assumption goes into our expectations giving us pause for some needed personal reflection and confession. And yet over time we see that our disappointments have been used by God in extraordinary ways. God doesn't waste anything, even the hard times.

So... when dealing with disappointment what how should we process it? This conversation with Hannah Schermerhorn is a followup to Hannah's Awake and Alive Summer One Day keynote talk this past June. We pray it will be an encouragement as you consider some of the questions as we wrestle with this topic.

To view Hannah's keynote and for small group questions, please visit: https://awakealive.com/2023-summer-one-day

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's Lutheran and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. Please visit www.stpaulmuskego.org for more information.

Episode 19 - Will We Recognize Each Other in Heaven?

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 03:00:00 -0500

Our listeners have been asking some good questions of late and we have had a few iterations of this kind of question over the past year or two. When the Christian dies, what happens and more specifically will we recognize people other Christians that we knew while we lived on earth? What does the Bible have to say about that and what do we simply have to wait for? It's a simple way to say it, but "Heaven is Better". Pastor Pete and Mike Westendorf tackle the topic in this week's episode.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's Lutheran and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. Please visit www.stpaulmuskego.org for more information.

Episode 18 - Is Being Engaged the Same as Being Married In God's Eyes?

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 03:00:00 -0500

In earlier generations when people talked about becoming engaged it was often assumed in the church that engagement was tantamount to being married in God's eyes. Mike and Pastor Pete talk through the Biblical understanding of marriage and the impact of our changing cultural norms on understanding the process that takes a couple from dating to engagement to marriage.

Were Mary and Joseph married? What is the implication of living together and common law marriages? If being engaged is pretty much like being married, why does God prohibit physical intimacy until the formal commitment? What business does the state have in people's affairs? And what happens if a Pastor marries a couple without a license? We hope this episode provides good guidance for your own great conversations as we bring the counsel of God into our understanding on these important topics.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's Lutheran and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. Please visit www.stpaulmuskego.org for more information.

Episode 17 - The Importance of Language and Context and the Training of Pastors in the WELS

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 03:00:00 -0500

Not everyone loves language and history is both exciting to some and boring to other. But why are these topics important for Lutheran Pastors in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS)? In this episode Mike and Pastor Pete talk about the importance of language as well as the caution when it comes to the use of commentaries as a substitute to personal Bible Reading. We talk about similarities between pastoral training and education training in other fields (Mike's experience in meteorology and forecasting) as a way to understand how we are preparing our young people to be Pastors in our church body. And we talk a bit about the struggle of talking history with people who don't always love it.

We hope you'll enjoy the conversation.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's Lutheran and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. Please visit www.stpaulmuskego.org for more information.

Episode 16 - An Interview with Author Hannah Schermerhorn

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 03:00:00 -0500

In this week's podcast, GQGC host Mike Westendorf sits down with Christian author Hannah Schermerhorn to talk about some of the themes in her new book "Only a Single Life to Live". One of our favorite moments is talking about kingdom building and identity challenges that young adults face. We touch on some of the challenges of being single, but also some of the ways God grows his relationship with us in a season of singleness.

Hannah will be the keynote speaker for Awake and Alive's summer one day event Sunday evening June 11th for young adults 18-25. Registration for the event is free, but tickets are limited. Livestream tickets are available if you would like to watch this event. You can learn more about Awake and Alive and it's ministry focus for young adults at awakealive.com

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's Lutheran and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. Please visit www.stpaulmuskego.org for more information.

Episode 15 - Understanding Communion Better

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 31 May 2023 03:00:00 -0500

The bread and wine, the Body and Blood of Jesus... this is often a tough sacrament and church tradition for people to understand. Is there power in it? Is there a danger if we don't respect it or understand what the Bible teaches? What is the purpose and how am I missing out if I just ignore Holy Communion altogether

Pastor Pete Panitzke and Mike Westendorf review what the church term "Means of Grace" really means and do a deeper dive into the purpose of Communion and the importance of understanding a little talked about phrase Jesus says the night he establishes the sacrament "the new covenant in my blood". We hope this episode will be helpful to you.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's Lutheran and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. Please visit www.stpaulmuskego.org for more information.

Episode 14 - The Problem with Baptism

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 24 May 2023 03:00:00 -0500

Baptism in the Lutheran church is one of the key tools that God uses to tell humanity about his forgiveness and to work faith in the hearts of people. It is to be pure Gospel and yet it often is viewed as a law, or a command, robbing it of it's power. Different Christian traditions and denominational views can take very different meanings out of what Baptism is, does and is meant to do. In this weeks podcast, we spend some time talking about what baptism means Biblically and a better way to make sense of what it does. We also dive into some of the problems that we interject into baptism when we misuse its meaning.

If you've ever wondered about Baptism, this may be a good starting point for you this week.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's Lutheran and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. Please visit www.stpaulmuskego.org for more information.

Episode 13 - What's in a Name? Describing the Christian God

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 17 May 2023 03:00:00 -0500

What is in a name? Everyone uses the word "god" for some reason or another. Whether it's a casual swear or play on the word or assigning religious or spiritual value. In this Episode we will tackle a couple of questions and talk more about what makes the Christian God different than other religions and we'll also talk about some of the challenge whole nations and countries have trouble recognizing Jesus as the Messiah.

In the show notes Mike mentions a quote from C.S. Lewis and he wanted to share it in fuller context: "There are no ordinary people. You have never met a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.” ... "It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.

To email your questions for us to consider on the podcast, please email Mike Westendorf at mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is a podcast of St. Paul's Lutheran and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. Please visit www.stpaulmuskego.org for more information.

Episode 12 - How Do I Forgive... Myself?

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 10 May 2023 03:00:00 -0500

When our communities, families or are lives are broken, where does healing come from? Forgiveness is the key, but what is it and why is it so necessary? It seems to be a core reality for human beings and as real and sure as gravity. But HOW do I forgive and in particular, how do I forgive myself? Pastor and professional Counselor, Jeffrey Bonack, joins us again as we do a deep dive into helping us and others through the process of forgiveness.

We mentioned a visual example of the story of God's Truth in the midst of our brokenness. The "Heart of Man" movie is a fantastic resource and example of the love of God through the unique telling of the story of the Wayward son and the love of the Father. Mike highly recommends this as a way to help see what Grace looks like in the midst of our deepest brokenness. You can find out more here:
http://heartofmanmovie.com/

Great Questions, Great Conversations is produced by St. Paul's and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. You can learn more about us at www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 11 - The Why and What of Forgiveness

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 03 May 2023 03:00:00 -0500

We have a chance to sit down with professional counselor, Pastor Jeffrey Bonack, to talk the challenges to forgiving others. Can we forgive and forget? The reality is that sin exposes truth. So, if forgiveness means "letting go" then what is it that I need to let go of. And what about the challenge of expectations that come up as we wrestle to forgive others.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is produced by St. Paul's and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. You can learn more about us at www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 10 - Why Forgiveness is So Important

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 03:00:00 -0500

The 5th petition says "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us". Jesus taught us to pray these words. So what does that mean exactly and are there conditions on forgiveness? We do a Biblical dive into sin and forgiveness and what is implied in this petition.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is produced by St. Paul's and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. You can learn more about us at www.stpaulmuskego.org

To email us questions for future conversations email mwestendorf@stpmuskego.org

Episode 9 - Forgiveness, Discipline and Discipleship

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 03:00:00 -0500

Thanks for joining us this week. We do a dive into the question about "who can forgive sin?" Is it Pastors, churchy people... who? We'll also talk about the challenge of church discipline and the connection to discipleship.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is produced by St. Paul's and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. You can learn more about us at www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 8 - How Should We "Fear" God?

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 03:00:00 -0500

What does it mean to "Fear" God? This is often one of the challenges to people as they dig deeper into the Bible. Are we supposed to be afraid of God? That is the human default after all. If there is a God with unlimited power and understanding I don't have a chance to stand, therefore I'd rather not believe in a "god" at all. On the other hand, what about all this talk of the Gospel and God's Love? In this episode Pastor Pete and Mike Westendorf talk about the two different ways to talk about the fear of God. We hope it will be an encouragement to you!

Great Questions, Great Conversations is produced by St. Paul's and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. You can learn more about us at www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 7 - Did Jesus Rise From the Dead?

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 05 Apr 2023 03:00:00 -0500

It is Holy Week and Pastor Pete and Mike Westendorf tackle some of the challenges around the Resurrection. It is the basic question that everything comes back to - Did Jesus rise from the dead? It is the question that creates the Christian Worldview. If Jesus did, then I can trust what God's Word means for my life and the promises for the future and after life. If you struggle with this question, we hope this will be helpful as you go back to the Bible and say to God - "Prove to me again, that the resurrection is true". God bless your week!

Great Questions, Great Conversations is produced by St. Paul's and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. You can learn more about us at www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 6 - The Importance of Old Testament Sacrifice

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 03:00:00 -0500

Have you ever been confused by the sacrifice system of the Old Testament? Sacrifice, Sin, Blood, Forgiveness of sins... what was happening here? For a lot of us we struggle with the God of the old testament because of some of these questions. We tackle the topic in this week's episode.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is produced by St. Paul's and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. You can learn more about us at www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 5 - Dinosaurs and the Importance of Worldview

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 03:00:00 -0500

Today Mike and Pastor Pete talk about some of the questions that arise when we think of dinosaurs and the age of the earth. There's a starting point that you have to consider along with the biases we bring and perspectives we bring to these questions along with the role of faith. We hope the episode is helpful.

Additional resources on this topic:
thestartingpointproject.com
answersingenesis.org

Great Questions, Great Conversations is produced by St. Paul's and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. You can learn more about us at www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 4 - Predestination and Free Will

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 03:00:00 -0500

Mike talks with Pastor Pete about the challenging idea of what in Christian circles is called "Predestination" or "election". What it means, how it gets confused and how to apply it Biblically. From there it turned into a natural question of "Free Will". What is it, do we actually have it and how do we understand it Biblically. We hope this conversation will be insightful and helpful as you grow in Grace!

Great Questions, Great Conversations is produced by St. Paul's and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. You can learn more about us at www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 3 - If God is Good, Why is There Evil, and other questions.

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 03:00:00 -0600

In this week's podcast, Mike and Pastor Pete pick up the challenge of just a few of the "why God" questions that many of us, perhaps all of us struggle with. If God is good, why is there evil? Why wasn't Jesus more clear about who he was? Why should we pray... why bother doing it? We pray some of this conversation is insightful and helpful as we point to Jesus as the comfort and peace in times of challenge.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is produced by St. Paul's and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. You can learn more about us at www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 2 - Why Denominations?

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 03:00:00 -0600

Pastor Pete and Mike Westendorf continue to answer questions submitted to us around doubts that we struggle with and the uncertainties that other's have shared with us. Today we wrestle with the impact of denominations, why they exist and how we might better share these differences with the world in a way that does not detract from the Gospel message in the Bible.

Great Questions, Great Conversations is produced by St. Paul's and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. You can learn more about us at www.stpaulmuskego.org

Episode 1 - Can we Trust the Bible?

St Paul's Lutheran Church, Muskego WI — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 03:00:00 -0600

Mike Westendorf sits down to talk with Pastor Pete to talk about some of the questions that came up in our message series dealing with doubt. In this episode we'll talk about some of the questions around the Bible and the idea of the inerrancy of Scripture. Thanks for joining us!

Great Questions, Great Conversations is produced by St. Paul's and The Bridge in Muskego, WI. You can learn more about us at www.stpaulmuskego.org