Author: Pastor Nick
Forty-seven years of ordained ministry, beginning for twelve years as a Jesuit priest, thirty-two as a United Methodist Pastor.
The Bubble Machine
Remembering the congregation so dear to us, and in prayer for the safety of everyone, a small group gathered for worship. Jesus and the woman at the well offered a message about the power of the divin... Read More
Eyes Lifted High on the Cross
Girl Scout Sunday From the children with their “Bandaid Crosses” to the cross lifted on high and the story of Jesus and Nicodemus, the image of Christ drawing us to himself seeks to libera... Read More
Patience and Passion
Two forces at work: the darkness of evil seeking to have us hold onto hurts, and the grace of God drawing us through pain into joy. Such is the movement of Lent. The word “Lent” is the anc... Read More
Listening to Jesus
When you’re wishing again for that mountain-top experience, hold fast to the voice from heaven urging us to “Listen to Him.” In the trip down the mountain with the shocking news that... Read More
Soul Discovery
A brief meditation began the sermon, with a view to simply experiencing the simple fact of our existence. This is the point of connection, the point of contact with God through the Holy Spirit who is ... Read More
The Grace Badge
This was a special celebration of Boy Scout Troop 66 whom this church is honored to sponsor. Scouts and family members joined our congregation for singing, listening, and the joy of children holding w... Read More
Happiness 101
Bulletin cover compliments of anchorwallace.com A fresh look at the Beatitudes and how the image of a trapeze helps us to understand the “letting go” in the first part of the Beatitudes, a... Read More
Light Swooping into Darkness
The swooping down of turkey vultures as they aim to pick at roadkill, strangely suggests an image of the light of Jesus swooping down on the first disciples. This swooping light was so powerful, that ... Read More
The Torch and the Baton
The beauty of this congregation is the movement of the Holy Spirit throughout: laughter, caring, listening, compassion. The Spirit prays as connections with one another are made. This is how John in h... Read More
The Power of Gentleness
A bell calls us to the present moment. Distractions flee as we listen to its call and its fading into the silence that invites us to connect with the Spirit. Sharing some famous bells, and a tiny one ... Read More
Egypt Getaway
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, some forty artists in Europe were so captivated by the Flight of the Holy Family to Egypt, that they painted fifty masterpieces of a time of rest in the... Read More
Down Payment on Heaven
The opening verses of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians are filled with a breathless intensity. We explore the meaning of earnest money, or down payment on Heaven. The words of the spiritual writer... Read More
Carol of the Cosmos
The original title of Charles Wesley’s “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” was “Hark, How All the Welkin Rings.” Listen to “Agapito” and pastor converse about how ... Read More
The First-Ever Carol
Magnificat anima mea Dominum! Studies have shown that a child in the womb can hear the sounds of the mother and is sensitive to the lullabies that mom sings. These become preferred songs after birth. ... Read More
Dead Wood Sings
When hope seems hopeless, and your soul seems dead, that’s when the grace of true hope appears. Dead wood comes to life in chainsaw art. Dead wood sings in a guitar, violin or other stringed ins... Read More
“Stay Awake”—Really?!
We live in a culture that is sleep-deprived. So how can Jesus urge us to stay awake more? Some humorous examples from Pastor when he fell asleep at inappropriate times… However, there’s a ... Read More
Down Is Up
This last Sunday of the church year is Christ the King Sunday. The Gospel is the wondrous story of “The Good Thief” in Luke 23:33-43. A Christian spiritual teacher once said that “Th... Read More
Hurry Up and Wait!
The folks in the ancient city of Thessalonica became lazy: nothing more to do or not to do, because the Second Coming of Jesus was thought to be happening very soon. All they had to do was to si... Read More
Hang On and Let Go!
This first of our Family Sundays had us have lots of fun with a mock tug of war in the sanctuary. Standing firm in the Lord, yet letting go so that God can work. Paul’s letter from prison has so... Read More
A Gallery of Saints
A service of remembrance of nineteen saints in heaven from various members of the church. Two verses from the twelfth chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews remind us of the gallery of saints in heaven ... Read More
My Bad—God Good
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector offers many avenues of spiritual exploration: judgment and forgiveness, mercy and grace. Mercy is God not punishing us as our sins deserve; grace is G... Read More
From Hard Clay to Soft Hearts
We began having the children and the whole congregation feel the pulses of our hearts. Then we passed from what is a pinky promise with the children, to the main part of the sermon, beginning with the... Read More