An Important Teaching

And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”

Mark 11:17 (NASB)

Many people attend church simply out of habit or family custom. Even if they claim to have accepted Christ, the church does not play an important role in their salvation process. They participate in numerous activities, either to occupy their time or to ensure they are truly members of a congregation and are useful to it. Even in His anger, Jesus emphasized an important point regarding the value of the church in the lives of believers: a house of prayer.

Today, the church is no longer just a house of prayer, where Christians come to give glory to God and listen to the preaching of the Word. It plays more the role of a hospital, welcoming the spiritually sick who come to seek healing for their anguished souls. If, in Christ's time, there was no concern for the place of the church in the lives of those who attended it, today we cannot neglect the support it provides to believers.

Don't be one of those who attend church out of habit or occasionally. As a child of God, it is essential that you unite with your brothers and sisters in the faith. This is how you will be comforted. The Church is not just a building with a name; it is a place where believers in Jesus and those who seek Him gather to pray, worship, support one another, and receive instruction from the Word. Don't be deceived by those who come only for their own pleasure.

May the grace and peace of God be with you all.