Living Examples - Use the Place to Bless People

Pray – (1/2 minute)

Read – (2 1/2 minutes) – “For two who years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him.” (Acts 28:30)
  Passage: Mark 11:12-19 

       The church began with believers who were primarily Jews. They had grown up with the Temple in Jerusalem and with synagogues in their hometowns as places of worship. When the Holy Spirit came upon them and the church was born, they continued going to the Temple, but they gathered in a large group in the Temple courts in Jerusalem and then in smaller groups in individual homes. As they gospel spread and more and more Gentiles received Christ, not only were the Jews excluded from using the Temple, but there were not established places of worship for new believers to meet in each city. Over the years, believers began to build dedicated houses of worship, but they didn’t have those to begin with.
      God is not against church buildings, but He expects those places to be used to glorify Him and to bless people. When Jesus cleaned out the Temple, He said, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves.”(Mark 11:17) If your church family has a building, thank God for it, but make sure it is not a private country club for a select group of people. It must be a place used to preach, teach, minister, fellowship and worship God with a desire to reach anyone for Christ. God will bless a church like that.  

Apply - (2 1/2 minutes)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pray - (1 1/2 minutes)