The importance of church

We've been out of town, visiting our niece, Nate's sister and our brother-in-law in Florida, so I'm a bit behind on blogging! This morning at church though, I got a couple of ideas to write about.

We are still working our way through Daniel in church, and we're on to the complicated portion with prophecy. I have read Daniel before, but like the pastor mentioned this morning, the second half of the book is quite unclear if you just read it alone at home.

There's talk of horns and statues made out of different types of metals. It doesn't make much sense. That is, until the pastor goes back and explains the history of the era and how the horns and metals represent different kingdoms. He has talked about how Daniel's prophecies were fulfilled exactly, giving credit to him and the Bible and God.

Sometimes, people don't realize the importance of church. Why go sit in a different building when you can read the same stuff at home? Then there's times like this when the pastor goes through passages you have read multiple times before and all of a sudden they mean something!

I love my church because the pastor delves into history and theology and explains passages I have read time and time again in a way that I had never seen in my own Bible study. It's so important to go to church and gain knowledge that you would not be able to gain by simply reading the Bible at home.

Many people talk about the importance of church being the fellowship of believers, and that is also important. However, it is also great for us to attend weekly services to hear the teaching of wise Christian leaders.