This Sunday we begin a new sermon series called : “Lookin’ for love in all the wrong places.”  If that sounds familiar, it’s because it is!  It’s the title of a country song recorded by Johnny Lee and released in 1980. So why have we chosen to use this as the theme for Lent? Read on!

Our Lenten spiritual practices of reflection, repentance and prayer often result in a desire to scale back, to make things more simple, to clear away extraneous distractions in order to give more of our time and attention to God. In this series we do this, and we spend time really noticing intently what holds our time and attention… we might even call it our “obsessions.” What steals vitality and bandwidth from our being able to live and love fully the things and people that are most important in our lives? And what does Jesus have to say about what must be important in our lives?

Join us this Sunday as St. Paul’s elder, Eric Prugh for kicks off the series with a sermon he calls, “Tempted, yes. But no, thanks”.  Part of finding the RIGHT love, is saying NO to something else.   In this Sunday’s sermon Eric will remind us how Jesus was tempted in the wilderness yet chose to say NO to the wrong things that would lead Him away from God’s love.

In our western culture we chase after status, power and wealth believing they will provide meaning, purpose and love in our lives. We even may view these blessings as proof that God loves us and we are on His “good side”. But time and time again, we find that we’ve been “Lookin’ for Love…in all the Wrong Places!” This Sunday we will examine the story of Nicodemus, a ruler in the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling council) who was, you might say, at the top of his game. He was a wealthy, respected religious leader in his community in whom rested much authority and power. Yet we see in his encounter with Jesus a curious lack in his life that has him longing for more. All his success has left him feeling empty. What counsel does Jesus give Him? Join us this Sunday as we look for love in all the right places!

Also, as a reminder, we will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper this Sunday, so if you are joining the service via Zoom please have a beverage and a cracker or some bread ready so you can partake in the sacrament.

We will be continuing our Lenten Sermon Series:  “Lookin’ for love…in all the Wrong Places” by examining the story of the Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus at the well in Sychar. (today Samaria is known as the North West Bank).  Like many today, the unnamed woman in the story has been looking for love and security in marriage, but one husband after another has left her (whether through divorce or death is not clear) and she has become disappointed and an object of scorn in her community. She has come to the well to get water at a time of day when she hopes to slip into town unnoticed and get back home again with little fanfare. But Jesus does notice her and gives her an unexpected gift that restores her to her community and fulfills her longing for acceptance and love. According to her culture she had “drunk the Kool-Aid” and become tainted, poisoned forever…so join us this Sunday as we ask have we too drunk the Kool-Aid, of where to find love.  “Kool-Aid” which is sweet going down, but which isn’t healthy or lifegiving…or have we found the healthy living water offered to us in Jesus — the source of all love?

This Sunday we will be continuing our Lenten Sermon Series:  “Lookin’ for love…in all the Wrong Places.”  When we think of love, romantic love is often what first comes to mind.  We are looking for our soulmate, our life partner, someone with whom to raise children and grow old.  But what if, instead of looking FOR love….we instead looked for someone TO love.  In the Biblical story we will consider this Sunday Jesus and his disciples discover a man who was born blind.  Immediately his disciples ask “how” this happened. “Did he sin, or was it his parents?” they ask.  Isn’t that what we so often do as well?  We ask HOW someone became homeless, or HOW they lost their job, or HOW their marriage ended. The answers we get to our HOW questions after all allows us to then make a judgment about whether or not they are deserving of our help. But what if, instead we were to abandon our “how” questions and instead we asked ourselves “what” questions such as “what can I do to alleviate their suffering?”  Might those we help then feel God’s love rather than our judgment?

We will be continuing our Lenten Sermon Series:  “Lookin’ for love…in all the Wrong Places.”  Sometimes in our childhood upbringing we were unwittingly conditioned to perform in order to win the love of our parents.  Love was bound up with obedience and if we disappointed our parents or other relatives love may have been withdrawn. In such circumstances we were not “free” to love, love was a reward that had to to be earned. If this was your experience, as we become adults we can carry this understanding of where to look for love within us. On Sunday we will study the story of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha.  All three were close friends of Jesus and had entertained Him and His disciples many times in their home.  So when Lazarus becomes deathly ill Mary and Martha send word to Jesus hoping that He will perform a miracle like the others he has performed so that their brother may live. Yet their “911” doesn’t move Jesus to respond quickly.  They are puzzled…have they not earned Jesus’ love?  Join us Sunday as we discover that Jesus had a much better gift in store for his dear friends…and for us!