April 22, 2025
I Love My Church
What does it really mean to love our church community? In today’s episode, host Gaby Alessi invites us to reflect on the beautiful picture of church life painted in the Book of Acts. Together, we’ll discover how the early believers lived with devotion, generosity, unity, and joy—reminding us that church is more than a building or a Sunday service. It’s a life shared in faith, where we lift one another up and grow together in God’s purpose.
Let’s journey through scripture and personal stories as we challenge ourselves to see church as a rich fellowship—something we get to be a part of, not just an obligation.
Join us as we gather in prayer and devotion, asking God to help us love, serve, and build our community just like the early church did.
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WEBVTT
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:14.167
You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1252. Today's Devo is called I Love My Church. Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida.
00:00:14.263 --> 00:00:29.324
And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast.
00:00:29.452 --> 00:00:36.844
Well, good morning, good afternoon. Good, you finish the sentence. I hope you guys are all having a great day so far.
00:00:36.932 --> 00:01:21.992
My name's Gabby, your host for the week, and it feels good to be back. The last time I filmed or recorded our podcast, I was in my room. Now I'm back in the studio, and after an amazing Easter weekend, I'm believing that God is going to give us an overflow of Easter. I want to jump into today's devo, and if you guys listened to yesterday's, you'd see that we're reading out of the Book of Acts, because I'd like to. Since we just finished Easter and we looked at the Resurrection, we actually looked at the crucifixion, the three days, and then the Resurrection. I'd like to talk about the days after because I think the. The disciples, after that big climax of the story, you know, now that Jesus is ascended, they had a moment of now what?
00:01:22.176 --> 00:01:51.584
And now you're seeing their story unfold and you see what they're stepping into. And one of the things that they start to step into is building a church. And now churches back then did not look like what they. What they look like now. You know, not many of them had big buildings like we do. They didn't have these massive facilities, these massive worship teams. They didn't have a media team or a social media team. They didn't have audio that you can watch from home. Actually, the churches were all in homes.
00:01:51.712 --> 00:02:08.219
A lot of the churches would gather in. In somebody's house. I remember we went to Greece a couple years ago and we were in the old town of Philippi, and my sister and I were there with my grandmother and we were having such a good time. And I asked the tour guide when we were in Philippi, I said, where would the church have been?
00:02:08.520 --> 00:03:03.473
And she said, oh, well, the early Christian churches, they would have been in a house somewhere. And she pointed to, like, this rubble in the corner that was probably. I'm terrible at distance, but basically it was very small and it did not look anything like a church. And she said that right there would have been one of the churches because that was a local home. And so that gave me a picture of, wow. The church was very different back then. But in the book of Acts, you're seeing the beginning of the Christian church. And in Acts 2, 42, 47, this is titled the Fellowship of the Believers. And it says this. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.
00:03:03.602 --> 00:03:07.377
They sold their property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
00:03:07.514 --> 00:03:36.931
And every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. You see, the early church was marked by devotion. They were devoted to the Lord. They were marked by generosity. They gave anything they had to those in need. They were marked by unity.
00:03:37.075 --> 00:03:47.972
They were gathering constantly for fellowship, for fellowship and for teaching. But then also they were marked by joy. They didn't just attend a service.
00:03:48.156 --> 00:05:02.930
They shared life together. And their faith impacted their time, their money, their priorities, and their relationships. And I love this at the end of it, and this is what I believe because of all these things, God added to their number daily, those who were saved. You see, this challenges me because now, you know, I work at a church, so sometimes you get so bogged down in the work that you forget about the fellowship. You forget about the importance, why are we doing what we're doing? And I think this story and this. These handful of verses reminds us of what the church is for. We're to be devoted to the Lord. We're to be generous, to give whatever we have to those that need it. If the church needs it, I will give it. If. If the single mom needs it, I will give it. You know, we're supposed to be unified. I love this. I love that we're supposed to spend time together. And it's not just about spending time in a service. It's about getting together outside of service and being unified and bringing joy and bringing. Just bringing time together. You know, I think this is just a great reflection, and it's a great reminder for all of us to look back and ask ourselves, do we see church this way?
00:05:03.550 --> 00:06:01.839
Do we see community this way? You know, do we go to church to. To check it off the list of I Went to church today. Do we go to church just to serve at the coffee bar and say, I did it and then we go home? Are we going to our connect group? Because we have to go. You know, our church is a very active and alive church. We have something all the time. And at times you can go back and go, man, you know, we're so busy all the time, but we forget the purpose. We're supposed to gather together as believers. We're supposed to come together in the name of the Lord to uplift one another, to encourage one another. We're supposed to come together and give of our time, our talents, and our treasures. This was what God wanted. This is what God destined for his people. And so I just ask myself this question. What if. What would it look like if we lived the way that the early church lived?
00:06:02.339 --> 00:06:05.879
You see, Christianity is not meant to be an individual experience.
00:06:06.180 --> 00:06:24.517
It's a shared one. We're supposed to be devoted to God, but also devoted to one another. The these things go hand in hand. So my question to you today is, how can you be more intentional about living out your faith in your church, in your local church?
00:06:24.694 --> 00:06:49.526
How can you reflect how these people lived? How can you reflect that lifestyle in your local church? And if you don't have a local church, I encourage you to get involved. Maybe you have a laundry list of things that. Or requirements that you need, because maybe you've been hurt by a church. Oh, I won't go to a church that has this, or I won't go to a church that talks too much about giving. Look, I get it. Maybe you have been hurt.
00:06:49.637 --> 00:06:53.077
Maybe a community has hurt you. Maybe a pastor has hurt you.
00:06:53.213 --> 00:07:26.923
But please know that the intent that the Lord wants us to gather together. You'll never find a perfect church because church is run by people and people aren't perfect. But you can find a healthy community of people that are all coming together to be devoted to God and one another. Lord, I thank you for your church. God, I love my church. If you're the Miami area, come to our church. I love my church. I love that you have built, Lord, an establishment and a community of people, that you've designed us to do life together. We were never meant to do life alone.
00:07:27.052 --> 00:08:04.000
God, we can't handle this life on our own. And you send us two one another. You yoke the church together, Father, in order for us to succeed and to grow and good seed and do well here on earth. Faith isn't just about us, Father. It's about all the people around us. And so I just pray that we would, we would go to church differently. God, I pray we would serve differently, we would see church differently, we would feel and go to church and sense something different when we're there. I pray that we would feel called to see church as more of a fellowship rather than something we just have to do.
00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:33.370
Oh, it's a have to. No, God, it's a get to. We get to go to church, we get to be in the fellowship, we get to be in community. And Lord, we see the blessing of church and we thank you for it. And let us be like the early church in Acts that we are devoted, we're generous, we're unified, and we are filled with joy. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today.
00:08:33.490 --> 00:08:48.730
We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:14.167
You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1252. Today's Devo is called I Love My Church. Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida.
00:00:14.263 --> 00:00:29.324
And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast.
00:00:29.452 --> 00:00:36.844
Well, good morning, good afternoon. Good, you finish the sentence. I hope you guys are all having a great day so far.
00:00:36.932 --> 00:01:21.992
My name's Gabby, your host for the week, and it feels good to be back. The last time I filmed or recorded our podcast, I was in my room. Now I'm back in the studio, and after an amazing Easter weekend, I'm believing that God is going to give us an overflow of Easter. I want to jump into today's devo, and if you guys listened to yesterday's, you'd see that we're reading out of the Book of Acts, because I'd like to. Since we just finished Easter and we looked at the Resurrection, we actually looked at the crucifixion, the three days, and then the Resurrection. I'd like to talk about the days after because I think the. The disciples, after that big climax of the story, you know, now that Jesus is ascended, they had a moment of now what?
00:01:22.176 --> 00:01:51.584
And now you're seeing their story unfold and you see what they're stepping into. And one of the things that they start to step into is building a church. And now churches back then did not look like what they. What they look like now. You know, not many of them had big buildings like we do. They didn't have these massive facilities, these massive worship teams. They didn't have a media team or a social media team. They didn't have audio that you can watch from home. Actually, the churches were all in homes.
00:01:51.712 --> 00:02:08.219
A lot of the churches would gather in. In somebody's house. I remember we went to Greece a couple years ago and we were in the old town of Philippi, and my sister and I were there with my grandmother and we were having such a good time. And I asked the tour guide when we were in Philippi, I said, where would the church have been?
00:02:08.520 --> 00:03:03.473
And she said, oh, well, the early Christian churches, they would have been in a house somewhere. And she pointed to, like, this rubble in the corner that was probably. I'm terrible at distance, but basically it was very small and it did not look anything like a church. And she said that right there would have been one of the churches because that was a local home. And so that gave me a picture of, wow. The church was very different back then. But in the book of Acts, you're seeing the beginning of the Christian church. And in Acts 2, 42, 47, this is titled the Fellowship of the Believers. And it says this. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.
00:03:03.602 --> 00:03:07.377
They sold their property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
00:03:07.514 --> 00:03:36.931
And every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. You see, the early church was marked by devotion. They were devoted to the Lord. They were marked by generosity. They gave anything they had to those in need. They were marked by unity.
00:03:37.075 --> 00:03:47.972
They were gathering constantly for fellowship, for fellowship and for teaching. But then also they were marked by joy. They didn't just attend a service.
00:03:48.156 --> 00:05:02.930
They shared life together. And their faith impacted their time, their money, their priorities, and their relationships. And I love this at the end of it, and this is what I believe because of all these things, God added to their number daily, those who were saved. You see, this challenges me because now, you know, I work at a church, so sometimes you get so bogged down in the work that you forget about the fellowship. You forget about the importance, why are we doing what we're doing? And I think this story and this. These handful of verses reminds us of what the church is for. We're to be devoted to the Lord. We're to be generous, to give whatever we have to those that need it. If the church needs it, I will give it. If. If the single mom needs it, I will give it. You know, we're supposed to be unified. I love this. I love that we're supposed to spend time together. And it's not just about spending time in a service. It's about getting together outside of service and being unified and bringing joy and bringing. Just bringing time together. You know, I think this is just a great reflection, and it's a great reminder for all of us to look back and ask ourselves, do we see church this way?
00:05:03.550 --> 00:06:01.839
Do we see community this way? You know, do we go to church to. To check it off the list of I Went to church today. Do we go to church just to serve at the coffee bar and say, I did it and then we go home? Are we going to our connect group? Because we have to go. You know, our church is a very active and alive church. We have something all the time. And at times you can go back and go, man, you know, we're so busy all the time, but we forget the purpose. We're supposed to gather together as believers. We're supposed to come together in the name of the Lord to uplift one another, to encourage one another. We're supposed to come together and give of our time, our talents, and our treasures. This was what God wanted. This is what God destined for his people. And so I just ask myself this question. What if. What would it look like if we lived the way that the early church lived?
00:06:02.339 --> 00:06:05.879
You see, Christianity is not meant to be an individual experience.
00:06:06.180 --> 00:06:24.517
It's a shared one. We're supposed to be devoted to God, but also devoted to one another. The these things go hand in hand. So my question to you today is, how can you be more intentional about living out your faith in your church, in your local church?
00:06:24.694 --> 00:06:49.526
How can you reflect how these people lived? How can you reflect that lifestyle in your local church? And if you don't have a local church, I encourage you to get involved. Maybe you have a laundry list of things that. Or requirements that you need, because maybe you've been hurt by a church. Oh, I won't go to a church that has this, or I won't go to a church that talks too much about giving. Look, I get it. Maybe you have been hurt.
00:06:49.637 --> 00:06:53.077
Maybe a community has hurt you. Maybe a pastor has hurt you.
00:06:53.213 --> 00:07:26.923
But please know that the intent that the Lord wants us to gather together. You'll never find a perfect church because church is run by people and people aren't perfect. But you can find a healthy community of people that are all coming together to be devoted to God and one another. Lord, I thank you for your church. God, I love my church. If you're the Miami area, come to our church. I love my church. I love that you have built, Lord, an establishment and a community of people, that you've designed us to do life together. We were never meant to do life alone.
00:07:27.052 --> 00:08:04.000
God, we can't handle this life on our own. And you send us two one another. You yoke the church together, Father, in order for us to succeed and to grow and good seed and do well here on earth. Faith isn't just about us, Father. It's about all the people around us. And so I just pray that we would, we would go to church differently. God, I pray we would serve differently, we would see church differently, we would feel and go to church and sense something different when we're there. I pray that we would feel called to see church as more of a fellowship rather than something we just have to do.
00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:33.370
Oh, it's a have to. No, God, it's a get to. We get to go to church, we get to be in the fellowship, we get to be in community. And Lord, we see the blessing of church and we thank you for it. And let us be like the early church in Acts that we are devoted, we're generous, we're unified, and we are filled with joy. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today.
00:08:33.490 --> 00:08:48.730
We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.