The Orthodox temple is the House of God.  In it, the divine services are held, we hear readings from the Holy Scripture, and we hear sermons, all directed at setting us on the path of salvation - to eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

Everything in the church has a purpose.  Everything directs us to prayer, to contemplation of God, to His limitless love towards us.  In the church we see a multitude of icons, which not only depict the saints, but in the Orthodox understanding are "windows to heaven" through which we are lifted upwards in our thoughts from earth and time to heaven and timeless sanctification.