Melbourne Inclusive Church

Let us pray the prayer of Jabez today! Who is Jabez? We only read about him once in the Bible as he prays a bold and powerful prayer to God. Jabez whose name means pain chooses to look to God and not his past pains. He refuses to take on the labels other  people place on him. Instead Jabez prays to God saying  God to bless me, expand my territory (influence). He says Lord let your hand (presence a...

Following a viewing of the film 1946 (not live-streamed) Joshua Adams shared his faith journey which led him to Melbourne Inclusive Church. During his time of sharing Josh shared an open letter handed out to all in attendance that offered an understanding of God's love for the LGBTIQ community. To support the ministry of Melbourne Inclusive Church go to: www.michurch.org.au/give Melbourne Inclusiv...

Prayer is about relationship with our Creator, the one who holds our lives in the palm of their hand and wants to spend time with us. Sadly, many people see prayer as a chore, a time-consuming activity that we do when it’s convenient. Prayer is seen as what we do when we want God to heal us, to provide for us, to overcome our challenges and change our communities. But prayer is connection. We pray...

Jesus told His disciples that when He left earth He would send another advocate, the Holy Spirit to guide us in life and empower us to do what Jesus had been doing. During this service Pastor Becky shares who Holy Spirit is and how Holy Spirit operates while sharing the events that took place during EMI's 25 year anniversary celebration in Mexico City. To support the ministry of Melbourne Inclusiv...

What is the heart of worship? Melody Foh, co-leader of MIC’s Praise and Worship Ministry, shares her personal journey with worship and how it has evolved over time. Melody reflects on how queerphobia/homophobia in her church affected her connection with God and the church community. Only by approaching God authentically, has the connection been able to be re-established, in a deeper and emotionall...

Who is Abigail? Who is Ananias? There are many famous stories in the Bible. Our heroes of the faith which input so many sermons and give us insight into the character of God. But the Bible is also a treasure chest filled with hidden gems of encouragement and inspiration which comes as we read about those who don't always make the headlines. Spread out over the next few months MIC will be highlight...

While Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity (DEI) has been a topic of heated debate in the media of late, the call to value every person is nothing new—it’s at the heart of the Gospel. Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus radically included those who were excluded and stood up against injustice; showing us how important diversity is and how we should be living our lives in a way that challenges all forms of di...

When we consider the grace of God many times we think of the forgiveness and salvation, we receive when God's justice for our sins fell on Jesus. The law was always meant to point us to Jesus. But Jesus did not come merely to cancel our debts — He came to break our chains. Under the law, people tried to live righteously through willpower. Under grace, we are not only justified and given right stan...

The Bible says that we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ. What does it mean to be justified by faith? What does justification have to do with justice? Everything. God's justice was satisfied through the death of Christ. When we understand that we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ and not our own works, how then are we capable of holding back justice for others? The fruit of justification...

He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step. He never did one thing wrong, Not once said anything amiss. They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to...

Palm Sunday marks the final week of Jesus life before the cross. Every year we celebrate His triumphant entry into Jerusalem and we marvel at His bravery. We are inspired when we read His prayer in Gethsemane …..God if you can take this from me please do…but not my will yours. If we had our will Jesus would overthrow Rome destroying them. If we got our will our freedom would be temporary. Jesus un...

We have been spending the season of Lent going through Jesus Sermon on the Mount. During our 40 days on the Mount we’re learning about the teachings of Jesus and the kingdom of God. Today we reflect on these learnings and how we can apply them to our lives. We have a choice, we can choose Christ and live according to His teachings, we can ignore the message of Christ, or we can live somewhere in t...

Welcome to week 4 of 40 Days on the Mount. In week 4 Jesus says "Do not judge others or you will be judged" Those are pretty serious words and demonstrate how seriously God views our judgement of others, after all we all sin. This understanding should lead us to the golden rule "do unto others as you would have them do to you" and lead us to pray for the generosity of God. When we ask for what we...

In week 3 of our 40 Days on the Mount we explore Matthew chapter 6. Here Jesus continues his Sermon on the Mount. Jesus assures us that God sees our acts of kindness, hears our prayers and knows our needs. He emphasises the importance of our motives behind these acts. Are we doing these things to impress people or to draw close and honour God? When we do things to impress people rather than God th...

n week two of Jesus Sermon on the Mount we explore what it means to be salt and light in the world. As people created in the image of God what does it mean then to reflect the goodness of God? Jesus explains that we carry His light to the word. He teaches us what that looks like in practical terms. Listen in as we learn together what it means to be salt and light.   To support the ministry of Melb...

During the season of Lent Melbourne Inclusive Church will be spending 40 Days on the Mount-a journey through Jesus' the Sermon on the Mount. This week we explore the Beatitudes - those who are blessed in the Kingdom of God. Take time to reflect this week-compare and contrast these blessings with worldly views of blessing. To support the ministry of Melbourne Inclusive Church go to: www.michurch.or...

Why the Gospel is Good News When you hear the phrase "The good news of the Gospel" what does this mean to you? What is the Gospel and what is the good news? In a literal sense the word Gospel means good news...mystery solved there-but what is this good news? Listen in as Pastor Becky explains the good news and how this good news transforms our lives as believers from one of trying to be good enoug...

This world can be filled with chaos, unkindness and uncertainty, we live after all in a fallen world. When our focus becomes surviving the chaos we many times take our focus off of God. This became apparent when the exiles returned from captivity. Their focus became building their own homes while the house of God lay in ruins.  The problem is that when we lose our focus on God we can toil and stri...

We live in a world that often tries to define us by our achievements, possessions, social status, our bodies, our cultures and the list goes on. Value is placed on human beings depending on their identity. What we need to remember however is that that our identity is found first and foremost in the one who created us. Our worth and value are inherent because we bear the mark of our Creator. Every...

On Sunday, Pastor Becky shared about her time walking the Camino de Santiago, also known as the “way” of St. James related to his missionary journeys. The word Camino means journey and Pastor shared how we are all journeying through life. She shared her encounters with other pilgrims along the way. Each walking their own pace, style and distances. Each person vulnerable and at times dependent on o...

He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, he knows if you’ve been bad or good so be good for goodness sake. Thank goodness that God knows us far better than Santa Claus. God knows what we need, and what we need is Jesus, and this gift does not depend on how good or bad we have been. God’s gift to us this Christmas and everyday is Jesus and our new life with Him. To support the...

Often, we see anger as a negative emotion, a feeling we should avoid. So when we read about God’s anger in the Bible, it doesn’t feel right. How can a loving God be angry? We have a human understanding of anger and not a Godly one. God’s anger is the result of His love for us. God’s anger is justice for our suffering and mistreatment caused by sinful human beings. God’s anger is settled, determine...

Around this time of year, there’s talk everywhere about God’s Glory, but what does that actually mean and how does it affect us? “And they were calling to one another:             “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.””  This glory filling the earth, is the expression of everything God is, all experienced when we connect with Christ. The glory that Christ ca...

When life becomes exhausting the temptation is to withdraw from anything that feels like more work, even our faith walk. Sometimes we just want to lie in bed and “doom scroll” on our phones until our batteries are completely flat. Like a smartphone that needs to be recharged, we too need a recharge. Rather than disconnecting from God, Jesus invites us to connect with him as our power source. We ex...

Touch is a sign of acceptance, love, and affirmation. Holding hands, first kisses, and holding a newborn; are meaningful parts of our lives. The touch of Jesus offers these things and so much more. With just a touch, Jesus can heal, remove shame, forgive sins, and bring our life out of the shadows. Before Jesus was crucified, he shared a last meal with his closest friends, the disciples. During th...