Foundations Class Weekly September 19 2026

This Week's Lesson

The Offering That Still Speaks

"Authentic Worship: The Faith of Abel" • Hebrews 11:4 • Sunday, September 20, 2026

Two brothers. Two offerings. One searching question.

Why was only one accepted?

"And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks."

Hebrews 11:4, ESV

Genesis describes Abel's gift in detail — the firstborn of his flock, the choicest portions. Cain's is called simply an offering. That difference is not an accident of wording.

But the strongest evidence comes later, in how Cain answered when God gave him a second chance. What he did next revealed what his offering alone never could.

This Sunday we open the record together and follow the evidence — a guided, interactive study through Genesis 4 and Hebrews 11. Bring your questions. This one gets personal before it's over.

Bring your Bible, bring your questions, and bring a friend. We meet at 10:45 in the Rehearsal Hall, Level 2 above the Main Foyer.

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Sermon Recap

Trusting God: Seasons of Life

Ecclesiastes 3, Numbers 8 • Pastor Gregg • September 13, 2026

Your season may change — your calling does not.

Prepare faithfully. Play wholeheartedly. Coach generously. Pastor Gregg walked us through Numbers 8 and the changing service of the Levites to show that life moves through seasons — and every one of them carries a God-given purpose.

"There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven."

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Prepare. Be faithful to what God is developing in you. Preparation is never wasted — God often does something in us before He does something through us.

Play. Be faithful to what God has placed before you. Your present life is not a waiting room. It is today's assignment, and God has given it to you on purpose.

Coach. Be faithful to what God has taught you. At fifty the Levites' service changed — not a stop, but a shift. The wisdom you have gathered becomes your gift to the next generation.

Remember where your identity rests. Roles change and responsibilities shift, but your identity is secure in Jesus Christ. You are a Christian who happens to hold your vocation, not the other way around. Your activity is not your identity.

Taking It Home

What season are you in, and where do you need to trust God more deeply? Take one faithful step in the assignment in front of you. Look for someone younger to encourage or guide. And release the season that has ended without believing your best days are behind you.

Whatever season you are walking through, trust God, turn the page faithfully, and let Him use you right where you are. He has more ahead than you can currently see.

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Lesson Recap

Daring the Soul to Go Beyond What the Eye Can See

"The Foundation of Faith" • Hebrews 11:1-3 • Carol Pierce • September 13, 2026

Carol Pierce opened our Hebrews 11 series by asking the class a deceptively hard question: define faith in two sentences. The answers that came back — trusting, believing God is who He says He is — laid the groundwork for a lesson on what faith actually is, what it is not, and what it does.

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

Hebrews 11:1, ESV

Read it in context. Before turning to the Hall of Faith, Carol walked us back into Hebrews 10 and forward into Hebrews 12. Chapter 10 tells us to draw near with a true heart in full assurance. Chapter 12 points to Jesus as the founder and perfecter of our faith. The famous chapter does not stand alone, and pulling a verse out of its setting to prove what we already think is a habit worth breaking.

Faith is trust, and it grows. Faith begins at salvation, but it does not stay there. It is not something we acquire, shelve, and pull down when trouble comes. It grows as we walk — through difficult circumstances, through seasons when others challenge what we believe, and through the moments God asks us to step somewhere we cannot yet see.

Faith is not blind. Believers are often accused of blindly following, but Carol turned that around: look at how much of the world follows blindly. Biblical faith is clear-sighted about who we trust. We follow Jesus with our eyes wide open. Neither is faith a formula for getting what we want from God, nor is it grounded in our own abilities — it rests on His.

Faith acts, and God is watching. Verse 2 says the people of old received their commendation. Someone had to be watching to give it. Just as Jesus sat across from the treasury and saw the widow give her small coin, God sees our faith in action — and He bore witness to theirs. The class named what faith looks like from the outside: courage, confidence, peace, rest.

Faith gives understanding. Verse 3 says that by faith we understand the universe was created by God's word, so that what is seen was not made from what is visible. Faith is not the absence of reason. It is what opens our understanding of what God has done — and of the fact that He still knows what He is doing with His creation.

Taking It Home

Carol was honest about where this gets difficult. A parent watching a grown child struggle, wanting to step in. A decision at work. A health decision with real consequences either way. In each of those, the question underneath is the same one: do I act out of fear, or do I ask the Lord what He wants and trust Him with the answer?

Where are you running the what-ifs this week? Name the decision, bring it to God honestly, and ask Him to make the next step clear — then be willing to take it before you can see where it leads. And consider the heroes we are about to study: none of them lived a flawless life. Sarah did not start out walking by faith. Abraham repeated the same failure twice. What marked them was the overall direction of their lives.

Faith is daring the soul to go beyond what the eye can see. This series is just getting started.

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Save the Date

Go, Love, Serve — Street Church October 29

Thursday, October 29, 2026 • Street Church

Mark your calendar! On Thursday, October 29, Foundations will serve at Street Church, providing pre-event snacks, leading worship, bringing the message, and welcoming people for prayer.

There’s a place for willing hands, listening ears, and caring hearts. Together, we can put Christ’s love into action as we serve our neighbors and share the hope of the gospel.

Save the date and consider how you can participate. More details and opportunities to help will follow.

Thursday, October 29

Street Church • Details to Follow

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Midweek · Every Wednesday

The Midweek Refreshment of Shared Prayer

Join our community as we pause together for the Sweet Hour of Prayer every Wednesday at noon. Please send your prayer requests to Karen at 713-204-8384 by Tuesday so they may be included.

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Ministry · Encore Activities

Connecting Through Encore Activities

For Encore information click here →

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Stay Connected · GroupMe

You’re in Control — Join or Step Back Anytime

We’ve created a Foundations Class GroupMe message center as a convenient, real-time way to share prayer requests, announcements, and encouraging messages. Join or leave anytime — no pressure. Mute notifications if you prefer silence, or jump into the conversation when something grabs your heart.

Sign up here: https://3zs8.short.gy/FoundationsGM →

★ ★ ★

HFBC · Path to Membership

Click for Membership Information →

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Foundations Class Weekly September 12 2026

Faith Beyond Sight • Series Launch

A New Study. An Unchanging God.

“The Foundation of Faith” • Hebrews 11:1–3
Carol Pierce • Sunday, September 13, 2026

Tomorrow, Carol Pierce opens our Faith Beyond Sight series with “The Foundation of Faith” — Hebrews 11:1–3. Together, we’ll explore what it means to trust God even when we cannot see what lies ahead.

As we prepare our hearts, remember our quarterly focus: God will provide, and He is working for the good of those who love Him.

Sundays at 10:45 AM • Rehearsal Hall, Second Floor
Houston’s First Baptist Church • Loop Campus

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Our Quarterly Faith Focus

Third Quarter • July–September 2026

Name of God

Jehovah Jireh — The LORD Will Provide

Genesis 22:14

Memory Verse • Romans 8:28

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28

Faith Beyond Sight

As we begin our new series, remember: we can trust God’s provision and purposes even when we cannot yet see how He is working.

Read it aloud. Practice it from memory. Share it with someone this week.

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Dessert Fellowship • Recap

How Sweet It Is! — Fellowship Worth Savoring

One last photo before goodnight! Others joined in the evening’s fellowship but aren’t pictured in this closing snapshot.

Dinner, dessert, and time together made Friday evening sweet! Thank you to everyone who joined us for an opportunity to deepen friendships, share stories, and encourage one another.

These simple gatherings help us grow as a caring class of friends. May the conversations continue—and may we keep making room for others at the table.

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Last Sunday in Foundations

From Country Club to Stained Glass — Every Member Matters

September 6 Lesson Recap • 1 Corinthians 12 • Matthew 22:37–39

Stained glass reveals its beauty when light shines through it. Last Sunday’s lesson challenged us to become a class through which Christ’s love is visible—in our attitudes, relationships, and everyday actions.

Four Truths to Carry Forward

Unity begins with surrender to Jesus.

The illustration of a hundred pianos tuned to the same standard reminded us that harmony begins as each heart turns toward Christ. Our first responsibility is to let Him shape us.

God has given each person a place and purpose.

Paul teaches that God arranged the members of His body as He chose. Encouragement, wisdom, willing hands, and quiet service all matter. Each of us has something to contribute.

We need to give—and graciously receive.

The story of two young men in a Romanian orphanage illustrated how one person’s strength can meet another’s need. Accepting help gives someone else an opportunity to serve. We share both the suffering and the joys of the body.

Love gives our service its meaning.

Thom Rainer’s testimony reminded us that loving difficult people requires Christ’s strength. Jesus’ command to love God and love others frames everything we do, and 1 Corinthians 13 reminds us why love is essential.

Your Story Isn’t Finished

The lesson invited us to consider our life ahead with Jesus and complete this sentence:

“Because Jesus is Lord, my next faithful step is…”

Choose one specific response this week: encourage someone, offer a gift, receive needed help, or make intentional time with God. Write it down—and follow through.

Surrender to Jesus. Take your place. Love one another.

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From the Pulpit

Live Worthy — Choose Unity. Walk Humbly. See Jesus.

Brandon Ayers • September 6, 2026 • Philippians 1:27–2:11

What does it mean to live worthy of the gospel? Brandon Ayers reminded us that it means allowing the truth of what Jesus has done to shape our everyday lives. Paul gives us three connected directions:

Choose unity.

Following Jesus brings us into a family. Our love, encouragement, and service display the gospel to a watching world.

Walk humbly.

Humility recognizes the God-given value of others. It moves us to listen with interest, care about another person’s needs, and serve without seeking recognition.

See Jesus.

True humility grows as we look to Christ. Though fully God, He became a servant and humbled Himself to death on a cross. We could never earn our way to God; Jesus came to us. Now exalted, He is the Lord before whom every knee will bow.

Put it into practice.

This week, welcome someone outside your usual circle, listen before offering your opinion, or quietly meet a need. Ask yourself:

Am I seeking recognition, or helping others see Jesus?

Brandon’s message reinforced our class lesson beautifully: as we surrender to Christ and care for one another, His love becomes visible through us.

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Save the Date

Go, Love, Serve — Street Church October 29

Thursday, October 29, 2026 • Street Church

Mark your calendar! On Thursday, October 29, Foundations will serve at Street Church, providing pre-event snacks, leading worship, bringing the message, and welcoming people for prayer.

There’s a place for willing hands, listening ears, and caring hearts. Together, we can put Christ’s love into action as we serve our neighbors and share the hope of the gospel.

Save the date and consider how you can participate. More details and opportunities to help will follow.

Thursday, October 29

Street Church • Details to Follow

★ ★ ★

Midweek · Every Wednesday

The Midweek Refreshment of Shared Prayer

Join our community as we pause together for the Sweet Hour of Prayer every Wednesday at noon. Please send your prayer requests to Karen at 713-204-8384 by Tuesday so they may be included.

★ ★ ★

Giving Opportunity · Family Camp

A Seat at the Campfire — Reserved by You

Every year, Family Camp gives single-parent and blended families at Houston’s First something the calendar rarely allows: a weekend to exhale. Three days to step away from the daily grind, strengthen relationships, grow in faith, and discover they are not walking their road alone.

Last year, nearly 50 families gathered around the theme Endure. They heard Philip and Elizabeth Varjas share how God carried them through hardship — and you could feel the room lean in. Kids tackled the ropes course, went fishing, and braved the putt-putt. Parents finally rested over an ice cream social. By Sunday morning, families who had arrived worn down left with renewed joy, new friendships, and one anchoring truth: God’s Word endures forever (Isaiah 40:8) — and through Christ, so can we.

This year, several families would love to come but can’t cover the cost. And here’s the part worth sitting with:

A scholarship of just $50–75 per person is often the only thing standing between a struggling family and a weekend that could change their year.

That’s the whole gap. We can close it.

Would our class sponsor one or more campers? Every gift — any amount — removes a financial barrier and hands a family a weekend they’ll carry home in their hearts. Your generosity can have an eternal impact.

Learn More or Give →

Read last year’s Family Camp recap →

★ ★ ★

Ministry · Encore Activities

Connecting Through Encore Activities

For Encore information click here →

★ ★ ★

Stay Connected · GroupMe

You’re in Control — Join or Step Back Anytime

We’ve created a Foundations Class GroupMe message center as a convenient, real-time way to share prayer requests, announcements, and encouraging messages. Join or leave anytime — no pressure. Mute notifications if you prefer silence, or jump into the conversation when something grabs your heart.

Sign up here: https://3zs8.short.gy/FoundationsGM →

★ ★ ★

HFBC · Path to Membership

Click for Membership Information →

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Foundations Class Weekly September 5 2026

After-Class Lunch

Many Parts, One Table

Class lets out this Sunday and the fellowship keeps right on going. Join your Foundations friends at Los Tios Mexican Restaurant for an unhurried Labor Day weekend lunch — warm chips, hot queso, tall glasses of iced tea, and a long table of familiar faces.

It fits the morning. This week's lesson takes us into 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul reminds us that a body is not one part but many — each one needed, all of them belonging to one another. That's a truth easier felt across a table than read on a page.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

1 Corinthians 12:14

No sign-up sheet, no head count. Come hungry, and bring a friend who's been away a while.

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Lesson Preview · Sunday, September 6, 2026

Chapter Four Starts Tomorrow

“From Country Club to Stained Glass” — 1 Corinthians 12:12–27

Tomorrow we get to do one of our favorite things together.

We'll open with a contrast worth sitting with. A country club is a place you pay into and expect to be served — and if it isn't to your liking, you complain. A stained-glass window is something else entirely. It makes no light of its own. It simply stands where the light can pass through, and the whole room changes because of it.

Then comes the blueprint. Paul's picture of the church in 1 Corinthians 12 is a good one: a body where every single piece matters, where the hidden parts are just as necessary as the visible ones, where when one person hurts, we all feel it. That's not a club you join. That's a family you belong to.

If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

1 Corinthians 12:26

Then the part we're looking forward to most. This summer some of you mapped out three chapters of your story — life before Christ, the moment you met Him, and life since. Tomorrow we write Chapter 4: My Life Ahead. Where are you being sent next? Who are you meant to walk alongside? What would it look like for the light to get through you?

We'll take that to the tables. Real conversation, out loud, with the friends sitting next to you — and then we'll gather up what came out of it and share the best of it with the whole room. You'll hear things about people you've known for years that you never knew. That's not a lesson you sit through. That's one you get to be part of.

And afterward, we're all headed to Los Tios. Chips, queso, and a long table of friendly faces.

Come be part of it. Then let's go, don't sit.

10:45 AM · Rehearsal Hall

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How Sweet It Is · Friday, September 11, 2026

Life Is Sweeter Together

Here's how the evening works, and it's simple on purpose.

Pick a restaurant. Round up a few friends — or better yet, one friend you've been meaning to get to know. Have dinner together, take your time, and enjoy the kind of conversation that doesn't happen in a fifteen-minute hallway visit.

Then come to the Butchers' at 7:30 for dessert. Ice cream, sundaes with every topping on the table, cake, pie, cookies, and more sweet fellowship than any of us needs and all of us want.

Ask them to dinner. That's the whole assignment.

Friday, September 11

The dinner part is the part worth praying about this week. Is there someone in class you'd like to know better? Someone who's been quiet lately, or hasn't been around in a while? Someone who's never come to a class event because nobody ever asked them directly? Ask them to dinner.

Life really is sweeter together. Come find out Friday.

Dessert & Fellowship · 7:30 PM · The Butchers' 13926 Kimberley (77079) 713-204-8384

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Sermon Recap · Sunday, August 30, 2026

Success Happens to You. Impact Happens Because of You.

“Moving with God Together: Four Attributes of an Impactful Person” — Numbers 8

Pastor Gregg opened with a line he had heard from a college coach that framed the entire message: success is what happens to you; impact is what happens because of you. Turning to Numbers 8, where the Lord instructs Moses to instruct Aaron in the making of the lampstand, he drew out four attributes that mark a life of genuine impact.

Success is what happens to you. Impact is what happens because of you.

Pastor Gregg

Ears That Hear the Lord

God's ideas carry God's power; ours do not. Too many of us spend our lives talking God into our plans instead of quieting down long enough to hear His. Pastor Gregg shared finding a document on his computer he had written in 2006 about the possibilities of one day acquiring the 701 building — a reminder that hearing from God may mean waiting twenty years on His timing.

Hands That Build a Team

God told Moses to tell Aaron. Leaders must delegate real responsibility — and the authority to go with it — to trusted partners. He pointed to 1 Corinthians 12: the eye cannot say to the ear, “I have no need of you.” He also told the story of Humphrey Monmouth, the cloth merchant who hid William Tyndale and smuggled English Bibles across England tucked between fabric shipments. There is no JV squad in the kingdom.

A Heart That Loves the Presence of God

Light in the tabernacle symbolized God's presence, and the lamps were set to shine forward. When we love His presence most, we hear His voice best — and hearing leads to obeying, not evaluating.

A Soul That Shines While Dented

The lampstand was hammered gold. We are gold, precious to God, and we will be dented — by our own choices, by others, by sorrows we never chose. But God uses the hammer to shape flower petals. He is not breaking our hearts; He is breaking our wills, and a broken will becomes a surrendered heart. Jesus Himself shined not merely dented but pierced.

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Living It Out This Week

• Open the Word before you open your plans. Ask what God is saying rather than asking Him to bless what you have already decided.
• Hand someone real responsibility — and the authority to carry it. Then get out of the way.
• Turn something off and sit with the Lord the way you would sit on the couch with someone you love. Presence is different from a text message.
• Take the step forward in your family, your workplace, your circle. You may never know the impact.

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Lesson Recap · Sunday, August 30, 2026

Invited in the Room

“Why I don't see God at work doing the Miraculous” — taught by Gary Pate

Before we opened our next series, Gary Pate brought us a stand-alone lesson: Why I don't see God at work doing the Miraculous. Ordained more than forty-five years ago, a Southwestern Seminary graduate, a church starter for nineteen years and an attorney for the past twenty-six, he came to tackle two questions he says the church still wrestles with — and to insist that Scripture answers both plainly.

Does God Still Speak Today?

Some argue that once all sixty-six books were complete, God fell silent. But Jesus said His sheep know His voice and follow Him (John 10:1–4), and nowhere does Scripture attach an expiration date to that promise. Gary walked us through two Greek words for “word”: logos, the whole counsel of God — the Bible in our hands — and rhema, an utterance. Both appear together in John 12:48. The test is simple: a true rhema will never contradict the logos.

Does God Still Perform Miracles?

Hebrews 13:8 settles it — Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Gary also challenged our praying. Many of us tack on “if it be Thy will” as a way of giving God an out in case the answer doesn't come. His wife taught him to pray Psalm 103 over the sick instead, believing God for the benefit of healing and then leaving the outcome to God's sovereignty.

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Luke 8: Two Miracles, One Crowd

The heart of the lesson was Luke 8:40–56. Jairus, ruler of the synagogue, threw his career at Jesus' feet to beg healing for his only daughter. On the way, a woman who had bled for twelve years — ceremonially unclean, cut off from the temple, her money spent on physicians who couldn't help — pressed through a suffocating crowd to touch the fringe of His garment. She was healed. Jesus called her daughter, the only time He uses that name for anyone, and He did it within earshot of a father whose own daughter lay dying.

Then the hard word arrived: the girl was dead. And here is the verse Gary said jumped out at him like no other. When Jesus reached the house full of mourners who ridiculed Him, He put them all outside — and took only Peter, James, John, and the girl's parents into the room where the miracle happened.

But He put them all outside.

Luke 8:54

Peter, Gary noted, was likely three feet from the woman's healing and never saw it coming. We can stand that close to what God is doing and miss it entirely. He shared a story of his own: a five-second prayer for safety before a family vacation, and a car five seconds ahead of them struck by a drunk driver at the first major intersection.

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Living It Out This Week

• Read the written Word daily so you can recognize His voice. Anything you sense God saying will square with what He has already put in Scripture.
• Pray Psalm 103 over someone who is sick — with confidence, not a built-in escape hatch — and then trust His sovereignty with the result.
• Guard a pure heart. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). Unbelief is what puts us outside the room.
• Look around this week with expectation. The miracle may already be three feet away.

Coming Up: Our new series begins Sunday, September 13 — a long, rich walk through Hebrews 11 and the faith of those who have gone before us.

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Coming This Fall

Faith Beyond Sight: A New Series Begins This Fall

Hebrews 11 • Foundations Class • Beginning Sunday, September 13

Galatians has carried us through the summer. This fall we turn to one of the most remarkable chapters in all of Scripture. Beginning Sunday, September 13, the Foundations Class opens a new series: Faith Beyond Sight: Lessons from Hebrews 11.

Hebrews 11 is often called the Hall of Faith, and for good reason. It is a roll call of ordinary people who trusted God for things they could not yet see. Noah built a boat on dry ground. Israel walked between walls of water. Daniel spent a night among lions and came out to tell it. Jericho fell without a siege. Samson found his strength again at the end. None of them had the whole picture. All of them moved anyway.

Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

That is the thread we will follow week by week. These are not legends kept behind glass. They are witnesses, and the chapter ends by pointing straight at us — their stories were written down so that ours could be lived out. Faith is not just seen. It is lived.

We meet Sundays at 10:45 in the Choir Rehearsal Hall, second floor of the Loop Campus, up the wide staircase from the foyer. Come as you are and bring a friend. There is a place for you here.

Join Us September 13

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Midweek · Every Wednesday

The Midweek Refreshment of Shared Prayer

Join our community as we pause together for the Sweet Hour of Prayer every Wednesday at noon. Please send your prayer requests to Karen at 713-204-8384 by Tuesday so they may be included.

★ ★ ★

Giving Opportunity · Family Camp

A Seat at the Campfire — Reserved by You

Every year, Family Camp gives single-parent and blended families at Houston’s First something the calendar rarely allows: a weekend to exhale. Three days to step away from the daily grind, strengthen relationships, grow in faith, and discover they are not walking their road alone.

Last year, nearly 50 families gathered around the theme Endure. They heard Philip and Elizabeth Varjas share how God carried them through hardship — and you could feel the room lean in. Kids tackled the ropes course, went fishing, and braved the putt-putt. Parents finally rested over an ice cream social. By Sunday morning, families who had arrived worn down left with renewed joy, new friendships, and one anchoring truth: God’s Word endures forever (Isaiah 40:8) — and through Christ, so can we.

This year, several families would love to come but can’t cover the cost. And here’s the part worth sitting with:

A scholarship of just $50–75 per person is often the only thing standing between a struggling family and a weekend that could change their year.

That’s the whole gap. We can close it.

Would our class sponsor one or more campers? Every gift — any amount — removes a financial barrier and hands a family a weekend they’ll carry home in their hearts. Your generosity can have an eternal impact.

Learn More or Give →

Read last year’s Family Camp recap →

★ ★ ★

Ministry · Encore Activities

Connecting Through Encore Activities

For Encore information click here →

★ ★ ★

Stay Connected · GroupMe

You’re in Control — Join or Step Back Anytime

We’ve created a Foundations Class GroupMe message center as a convenient, real-time way to share prayer requests, announcements, and encouraging messages. Join or leave anytime — no pressure. Mute notifications if you prefer silence, or jump into the conversation when something grabs your heart.

Sign up here: https://3zs8.short.gy/FoundationsGM →

★ ★ ★

HFBC · Path to Membership

Click for Membership Information →

★ ★ ★

Foundations Class Weekly August 29 2026

Lesson Recap

SLOW DOWN, LOOK BACK — AND LIVE FREE

Our Galatians Summer Review

Galatians 5:22–23 • Foundations Class Interactive • Sunday, August 23

Last Sunday, August 23, Foundations took time to slow down and look back over our nine-lesson summer journey through Galatians, Freedom in Christ.

There was even a little fun in how we began. The previous week, Pastor Gregg had reached back into the vocabulary of our generation and used the word “groovy.” So what better background for a slideshow on the Fruit of the Spirit than Simon & Garfunkel’s “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)”?

Beyond the nostalgia, its reminder to slow down fit the morning perfectly. We stopped to consider Galatians 5:22–23—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control—and asked: Where can I look back and recognize that the Holy Spirit has genuinely changed me?

The answers shared around the room became testimonies of God’s work—faithfulness through difficult circumstances, greater patience and kindness, praying for others, passing faith to the next generation, and responding with self-control.

Then a special Galatians Summer Series review video brought back key teaching points from each of our teachers. Different voices and passages pointed us toward one consistent truth.

Jesus Christ has done for us what we could never do for ourselves.

Galatians Summer Series

The gospel is Christ—not Christ plus something else. We don’t work for God’s acceptance; because of Christ, we live from His acceptance. And our freedom in Christ is freedom to walk by the Spirit.

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The Application

Stand firm in Christ’s freedom. Walk by the Spirit. Look for His fruit in your life. Carry one another’s burdens. And let the cross—not our accomplishments—be our boast.

Slow down and look back at what God has done. Look within and recognize where His Spirit is working. Then look ahead—and keep walking with Him.

And maybe it’s still okay to call that groovy.

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Before You Go

Test Yourself

Forty-five flashcards covering all nine lessons. Click a card to flip it, then work your way through at your own pace—a simple way to keep this summer’s study close at hand.

This Sunday • Guest Teacher

INVITED INSIDE

Guest Teacher Gary Pate on Why I Don’t See God at Work Doing the Miraculous

Luke 8:51 • Gary Pate • Sunday, August 30

This Sunday, August 30, Foundations welcomes guest teacher Gary Pate for a special lesson: Invited Inside: Why I Don’t See God at Work Doing the Miraculous.

The text is a single verse. In Luke 8:51, Jesus arrives at the house of Jairus, whose daughter has just died—and He does something easy to read right past. He does not let everyone come in with Him. Only Peter, John, James, and the girl’s mother and father go through that door. Everyone else stays outside.

A crowd had followed Jesus all the way there. But only a few were inside the room when the miracle happened.

And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child.

Luke 8:51

That detail raises a question worth sitting with. If you have ever wondered why you hear about God working powerfully in other lives and not so plainly in your own, this lesson is aimed squarely at you. Gary will walk us through what set those few apart, and what it looks like to be the kind of person Jesus brings inside.

Bring a friend. This is a good week to invite someone who has been meaning to visit—a single-verse lesson with a guest teacher is an easy Sunday to walk into for the first time.

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Join Us

Sunday, August 30

Gathering at 10:30 AM • Teaching at 11:00 AM

Rehearsal Hall • Houston’s First Baptist Church, Loop Campus

Plan to Join Us Sunday

Pastor's Message

Moving with God Together: Blessed

Numbers 6:22–27 • Pastor Gregg • August 23, 2026

Israel is packing for the wilderness. Pastor Gregg started with a backpack — water bottle, map, first aid kit, Astros hat — then made the point that the one thing they needed most could not be bought at Academy. What they needed was the blessing and favor of God. Moses said it plainly in Exodus 33:14: if your presence does not go with us, do not send us from this place.

The Priestly Blessing holds five gifts. Protection — being kept by God in the middle of difficulty, not spared from it. Presence — the sunshine smile of God turned toward you, not a scowl. Favor — grace that comes before a single step is taken, because it is easier to have the approval of God than the approval of man. Peace — shalom, the presence of Christ in the crisis. And identity — verse 27, the forgotten verse, where God writes His own name over His people.

Peace is not the absence of crisis. It is the presence of Christ.

Pastor Gregg

Two moments landed hard. The Ketef Hinnom silver scrolls, uncovered outside Jerusalem in 1979, carry this exact blessing on a scroll dating to the 600s B.C. — roughly four centuries older than the Dead Sea Scrolls. Nobody made this up. And on the softball field, his daughter reached first base and immediately looked to third for her father's eyes: Is that good, Dad? Children should leave home from approval, not for approval. So should we.

Pray the blessing out loud this week — over your spouse, your children, your parents, yourself. Put the fridge magnet where you will actually see it. Then pick up a few of the blessing cards in the lobby and hand them to someone who needs one. The point is not to say I am so blessed. The point is to be a blessing.

Watch the Full Message

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From Our Friends

A NOTE FROM RICHARD AND TRISH

Open the card to read it in their own hand

A card arrived this week from Richard and Trish, thanking the class for the prayers, calls, texts, cards, and meals that have surrounded them through a difficult season. They write that those prayers have been a lifeline.

We’ve scanned all four panels so you can read it the way they wrote it. Tap the card below to open it, then move through the panels—the full note is there, along with the verse they chose to close it, Second Corinthians 9:8.

Answered prayer. Richard and Trish are back and doing well!

Men on a Mission

On the Trail Again: BBQ Trail Ride Recap

Old Hickory Inn • Trail Boss Richard Battle • Thursday, August 27, 2026

Trail Boss Richard Battle pointed the men toward Old Hickory Inn, and they answered the call. Good smoke, full plates, and the kind of conversation that only happens around a table.

Watch the recap above, then watch this space — the next stop on the trail is coming. If you have been meaning to ride along, this is your invitation.

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Coming This Fall

Faith Beyond Sight: A New Series Begins This Fall

Hebrews 11 • Foundations Class • Beginning Sunday, September 13

Galatians has carried us through the summer. This fall we turn to one of the most remarkable chapters in all of Scripture. Beginning Sunday, September 13, the Foundations Class opens a new series: Faith Beyond Sight: Lessons from Hebrews 11.

Hebrews 11 is often called the Hall of Faith, and for good reason. It is a roll call of ordinary people who trusted God for things they could not yet see. Noah built a boat on dry ground. Israel walked between walls of water. Daniel spent a night among lions and came out to tell it. Jericho fell without a siege. Samson found his strength again at the end. None of them had the whole picture. All of them moved anyway.

Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

That is the thread we will follow week by week. These are not legends kept behind glass. They are witnesses, and the chapter ends by pointing straight at us — their stories were written down so that ours could be lived out. Faith is not just seen. It is lived.

We meet Sundays at 10:45 in the Choir Rehearsal Hall, second floor of the Loop Campus, up the wide staircase from the foyer. Come as you are and bring a friend. There is a place for you here.

Join Us September 13

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Foundations Fellowship • Save the Date

We Love Our Sundays — But Have You Tried Our Sundaes?

The sundae truck is rolling back around — Friday, September 11!

Every Sunday, the Foundations Class gathers around something sweet — God's Word and great friends. But on Friday, September 11 at 7:30 PM, we're gathering around the other kind of sundae. Back by popular demand, our How Sweet It Is dessert fellowship returns, hosted by the Butchers!

Here's the plan — and it starts before dessert is served. Plan a dinner meet-up first! Gather a small group and head out for dinner together earlier that evening. Invite a class member you've been wanting to know better. Invite a guest or a friend — from church or beyond — who could use some fellowship. This is a wonderful opportunity to open a seat at the table and make room for new and growing Christian friendships.

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”

— Proverbs 25:11 (ESV)

Sometimes the sweetest word fitly spoken is simply, “Come join us for dinner.” Who will you invite?

Then, after your dinner meet-ups, everyone comes together at the Butchers' at 7:30 PM for a sweet after-dinner fellowship — sundaes, floats, toppings galore, and laughter in every room. If you were there last time, you already know. And if you missed it, here's your second scoop!

How Sweet It Is — Dessert Fellowship

Friday, September 11 • 7:30 PM

Hosted by the Butchers • Plan your dinner meet-up first!
Address and details on GroupMe

Our friendships aren't just for Sunday mornings. Start planning your dinner group now — because dessert is always better shared with friends.

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Midweek · Every Wednesday

The Midweek Refreshment of Shared Prayer

Join our community as we pause together for the Sweet Hour of Prayer every Wednesday at noon. Please send your prayer requests to Karen at 713-204-8384 by Tuesday so they may be included.

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Giving Opportunity · Family Camp

A Seat at the Campfire — Reserved by You

Every year, Family Camp gives single-parent and blended families at Houston’s First something the calendar rarely allows: a weekend to exhale. Three days to step away from the daily grind, strengthen relationships, grow in faith, and discover they are not walking their road alone.

Last year, nearly 50 families gathered around the theme Endure. They heard Philip and Elizabeth Varjas share how God carried them through hardship — and you could feel the room lean in. Kids tackled the ropes course, went fishing, and braved the putt-putt. Parents finally rested over an ice cream social. By Sunday morning, families who had arrived worn down left with renewed joy, new friendships, and one anchoring truth: God’s Word endures forever (Isaiah 40:8) — and through Christ, so can we.

This year, several families would love to come but can’t cover the cost. And here’s the part worth sitting with:

A scholarship of just $50–75 per person is often the only thing standing between a struggling family and a weekend that could change their year.

That’s the whole gap. We can close it.

Would our class sponsor one or more campers? Every gift — any amount — removes a financial barrier and hands a family a weekend they’ll carry home in their hearts. Your generosity can have an eternal impact.

Learn More or Give →

Read last year’s Family Camp recap →

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Ministry · Encore Activities

Connecting Through Encore Activities

For Encore information click here →

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Stay Connected · GroupMe

You’re in Control — Join or Step Back Anytime

We’ve created a Foundations Class GroupMe message center as a convenient, real-time way to share prayer requests, announcements, and encouraging messages. Join or leave anytime — no pressure. Mute notifications if you prefer silence, or jump into the conversation when something grabs your heart.

Sign up here: https://3zs8.short.gy/FoundationsGM →

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HFBC · Path to Membership

Click for Membership Information →

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