In this week's sermon Pastor Mark preached on Luke 2 from the southern steps of the temple in Jerusalem. In the shadow of one of the world's 'holiest' sites, Pastor Mark taught about how we no longer have to go to a place, a site, a city, or a building to know and be the presence of God. We go to Jesus. To watch or listen to the sermon, download the transcripts or other Luke materials, check out the sermon page. "And, in 70 A.D., what happened at the temple, friends? What happened to the temple? What did Jesus say? Not one stone will be left on another. This temple is going away. This was foreshadowing, this was expectation, this was anticipation, and now it’s all been fulfilled; it’s all been superseded. The temple was destroyed, just like Jesus said. And it’s been destroyed for almost two millennia. Why? We have no need of it. It served its purpose. It, for hundreds of years, prepared people for the coming of Jesus, and once he came, its purpose was fulfilled. Friends, I have good news to you. We didn’t bathe with water; we bathe with Christ. We don’t try and simply cleanse our body; we’re cleansed from the heart out, through repentance and faith, through giving our sin to Jesus, receiving his imputed righteousness. If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us, make us clean, wash us clean—from how much of our unrighteousness? All of it. So, we don’t bathe in water; we cleanse in Christ. Number two, we don’t go to the temple. Why? Jesus is our temple. I explained the purpose of the temple to you earlier. What is now the place between heaven and earth? Well, it’s Jesus. Where was God’s presence on the earth? In Jesus. Where do we go to meet with God? Jesus. There’s one mediator between us and God: this God who became a man, the man Christ Jesus. Where is sin atoned for? Well, in Jesus. Where is the center of our life and our faith and our worship and our community? Jesus. So, today we don’t go to the temple. And I love that Jesus doesn’t even give us an option. It’s not like we come here, flip a coin, "Do I go to Jesus or temple today?" You go to Jesus or ruins today."