Pilgrim Uniting Church, Adelaide SA SUN 14-NOV-2021 - 9.30 AM Sermon Rev Sandy Boyce Pentecost 25 – While Jesus and the disciples were visiting the Jerusalem Temple and surroundings, one of the disciples said how impressed he was with the huge blocks of masonry that had gone into its construction. Jesus was able to tell them that the time was coming when the Temple would be turned into a pile of rubble. The Temple was a magnificent symbol of compromise between the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman Empire, but it was certainly not dedicated solely to the glory of God. It is no surprise that Jesus should be so critical of the Temple, when its standards were so contrary to everything that he stood for. The early Jewish Christians met in ordinary private houses for prayer, fellowship, shared meals and the Eucharist. Inevitably services came to be held in church buildings; and church buildings grew and grew in size and impressiveness when religion and Empire were again aligned under the emperor Constantine. But a church is a community of believers, not a building. The teaching of Jesus is about love; it tells us that we need one another to be peacemakers, justice seekers and community builders; whereas the way of Empire is to sow division and oppression. The sermon concludes with an assurance that we, its listeners, are in the time and place to be a sign of hope in a fractured, hurting world. Mark 13: 1-8 Playing Time   –   15:06