Phillips Memorial Baptist Church

06/02/2026

🔓 What if fervent prayer is not only about asking God to change the world... but also allowing God to change us?

In “The Gospel Behind Bars,” we heard how the early church prayed fervently while Peter sat imprisoned. They prayed with courage, with hope, and with expectation that God was still moving — even when walls seemed too strong and chains seemed too heavy.

Today we are invited to ask:

Who is still behind bars?

Not only prison walls, but bars of loneliness, poverty, prejudice, fear, injustice, exclusion, grief, or silence.

And what if God is calling us not only to pray for freedom, but to participate in it?

Sometimes setting the oppressed free begins with things that seem small:

💜 Listening to someone's story instead of making assumptions
💜 Speaking up when others are dismissed or marginalized
💜 Offering kindness to someone who feels invisible
💜 Supporting organizations that work for justice and equality
💜 Refusing to let fear decide who belongs and who doesn't

The early church prayed fervently — but they also had to eventually open the gate. (Poor Peter probably knocked long enough. 😉)

This week, may we pray boldly, love courageously, and pay attention to the doors God is asking us to help open.

"Set the oppressed free."

06/01/2026

Peter had just experienced a miracle. Chains had fallen away. Prison doors had opened. An angel had led him to freedom.

Then he got stuck… outside a gate.

He knocked.

And knocked.

And knocked.

Meanwhile the people inside were celebrating that Peter was free... while accidentally leaving Peter standing outside. 😄

Before we laugh too hard, maybe there’s a question for us in that story:

How often do we pray for change while keeping the gate locked?

How often do we ask God to bring healing, justice, community, or new possibilities into our world while holding tightly to the walls built by fear, comfort, assumptions, or division?

This week, maybe God is inviting us to notice the gates in our own lives.

Who needs encouragement?
Who needs belonging?
Who needs compassion?
Who is still standing outside, knocking?

May we have the courage to throw open the gate.

Because grace was never meant to stay locked up. 💜

05/31/2026

This morning at Phillips Memorial Baptist Church, we reflected on Pastor Amy’s sermon, “The Gospel Behind Bars,” from Acts 12:1–25 — a message that invited us to consider both the prisons of scripture and the walls we still build today.

Pastor Amy opened with a story from her younger years involving a converted box van, sand dunes, trees, and one memorable lesson: sometimes we can find ourselves stuck in situations of our own making. We may think we can hide our choices or navigate around the consequences, but eventually we have to face what is right in front of us.

Peter also found himself stuck — imprisoned by King Herod during a time of intense persecution against the early church. But while fear and violence tried to close in, the church never stopped praying. They prayed with hope. They prayed with persistence. And God made a way where walls, chains, and locked doors said there was none.

Yet today’s message invited us to look beyond Peter’s prison cell and ask deeper questions of ourselves. What walls do we build out of fear, comfort, prejudice, or division? Who have we placed on the other side of those gates? Who do we struggle to see as beloved children of God?

We were challenged to wrestle with the realities of injustice and inequality that continue in our world today, especially systems that disproportionately impact Black and Brown communities and those living on the margins. As followers of Christ, we are called not to turn away from suffering, but to pray fervently, advocate faithfully, and work toward justice, dignity, and freedom for all people. Because faith calls us to action, love calls us to compassion, and the Gospel still breaks chains.

As Riley reminded us during the children’s message, each of us can do our part in helping where we can.

Our prayer for this week:

"Give us courage, O God, to cry out for justice, to pray for the oppressed, to see beyond the walls we build, and to work toward a world where all your children are treated with dignity, love, and freedom."

"And the word of God continued to spread and flourish." — Acts 12:24

05/30/2026

What a meaningful week it has been at Phillips Memorial Baptist Church. 💙

Together, we reflected on “God’s Economy” — a way of living rooted in generosity, compassion, empathy, and community. We explored how even small acts of kindness can become sacred acts of grace. We honored Memorial Day, reflected on God’s abundant Spirit through the lectionary readings, challenged ourselves to practice radical generosity both beyond our walls and within our church family, and continued growing together through our May Memory Verse from Matthew 4:4.

Through it all, we’ve been reminded:
✨ nobody is meant to do life alone
✨ generosity is bigger than money
✨ community matters
✨ God’s love keeps flowing outward

And we’d love for YOU to be part of that community.

Join us tomorrow — Sunday, 05/31/26 — at 10:00am for worship as we gather to pray, sing, reflect, learn, and grow together. Whether you’ve been attending for years or have never stepped through our doors before, you are welcome here.

We also invite you to check out our newly updated website!
🌐 Phillips Memorial Baptist Church Website: https://phillipschurch.org/

Enjoying our online presence or worship experience? If you feel so inclined, we’d deeply appreciate a Google Review as it helps others discover our welcoming church community:
⭐ Leave Us a Google Review: https://tinyurl.com/PMBCReview

And don’t forget to save the date! 🛍️
📅 Our Annual Rummage Sale is coming up on 06/06/26!

We hope to see you this Sunday. There’s always room for one more at the table. 💙

05/29/2026

Most of us know what it feels like to rush through life running on empty.

We feed our schedules.
We feed our worries.
We feed our phones, calendars, and to-do lists.

But are we feeding our spirits?

Jesus reminds us in Matthew 4:4 that we need more than physical nourishment to truly live. We also need hope, wisdom, grace, encouragement, truth, and connection with God.

And maybe that’s the challenge this week:
What are we consuming each day… and what is actually sustaining us?

✨ This Week’s Practice:
Try connecting this verse to one small daily habit:
🍽️ say the verse before meals
📓 journal one way God’s word encouraged you each day
📱 save the verse as your phone wallpaper
💬 text the verse to someone who may need encouragement
🙏 recite it during stressful moments or difficult decisions

Sometimes spiritual growth doesn’t happen through giant leaps.

Sometimes it happens through small daily reminders that God is still nourishing us, guiding us, and walking with us.

💭 We’d love to hear from you:
How are you practicing this verse this week?
Where have you seen it show up in your daily life?

05/28/2026

If you are in the neighborhood, stop by and admire the rhododendrons in the courtyard - and come in and say hello!

05/28/2026

At Phillips Memorial Baptist Church, we care deeply about mission and outreach. 💙

We support organizations like CCAP, Crossroads, missionaries, food ministries, and so many others working to care for our wider community. And that matters. It matters deeply.

But this week, as we continue reflecting on “God’s Economy,” maybe there’s also a quieter question worth asking:

How are we practicing radical generosity with each other?

Sometimes it’s easier to recognize needs far away than the needs sitting a few pews over.

Maybe radical generosity within church community looks like:
☕ inviting someone to coffee after worship
📞 checking in on a member you haven’t seen lately
🪑 sitting with someone who usually sits alone
🎶 thanking choir members, ushers, teachers, and volunteers
🛠️ offering help before someone has to ask
💌 sending a card “just because”
⏰ making time for one another even when life feels busy

The early church in Acts didn’t simply build programs.
They built community.

They shared burdens.
Shared meals.
Shared joy.
Shared grief.
Shared life.

And perhaps one of the holiest things we can do is make sure nobody at church feels invisible.

Because generosity is not only about what leaves our wallets.

Sometimes the most powerful generosity is:
attention, encouragement, patience, welcome, forgiveness, and presence.

God’s Economy reminds us that church is not a building we attend.
It is a community we nurture together.

So maybe today’s invitation is simple:
Look around this week and ask yourself —
✨ Who might need encouragement?
✨ Who have I not connected with lately?
✨ How can I help someone feel seen, valued, and loved?

Small acts of care can become sacred acts of community.

05/27/2026

05/27/2026

I spy with my little eye . . . a drone checking out the health of our tower and steeple! Also, who initialed the top of the steeple in 2020?! Was it you?!