One Step at a Time, All the Way Home
Only two men in all of Scripture left this world without dying. One rode a chariot of fire. The other simply went for a walk.
Genesis gives Enoch just a handful of verses, but they say everything: “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” No miracles recorded. No battles won. Just a man whose daily faithfulness was so steady that heaven took notice, and Hebrews 11 tells us he was commended as one who pleased God.
This Sunday, Jeff Pennington opens Hebrews 11:5–6 and the verse at the heart of our entire Hall of Faith series: without faith it is impossible to please Him. What does it really mean to walk with God in an ordinary life? And what does God promise to those who earnestly seek Him?
Join us Sunday at 10:45 AM in the Choir Rehearsal Room as our Faith Beyond Sight series continues.
Every walk with God starts with a single step. Come take yours with us.
Big news for Foundations
A Brand-New Front Door for Foundations
Bible Study • Houston • Foundations
It’s live! The Biblical Foundations Life Bible Study Class has launched a brand-new website, with a fresh new look and a new address that’s easy to remember and easy to share.
Our previous class site served us well, and we’re grateful for it. This new one was rebuilt from the ground up with one goal in mind: when someone across Houston searches for a Bible study and a place to belong, they’ll find us, with the lights on and the door wide open.
Take a look around and you’ll find
what we’re studying right now, including our Faith Beyond Sight journey through Hebrews 11; when and where we gather each Sunday at Houston’s First Baptist Church; and a glimpse of the fellowship, service, and friendships that make this class feel like family.
Rooted in the Word. Growing together. And now, a whole new way to say “come join us.”
Tap the image or open the full site here.
Now we need your help. First, update your bookmarks to biblestudyhouston.com. Then, this week, text the link to one person who’s been looking for a church family, a Bible study, or just a place to belong. A website can open a door, but it takes a friend to walk someone through it. That makes every one of us part of the invitation.
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Sunday Sermon Recap
Trusting God: To Heal
"Trusting God: To Heal" • Numbers 12:1–16 • Pastor Gregg • September 20, 2026
Continuing the Trusting God series, Pastor Gregg turned to a season every one of us walks through sooner or later: sickness. Sometimes it's something major, sometimes something small, but it comes to all of us. His answer to it was simple enough to carry home and strong enough to lean on.
“We don’t know why sickness has come, but we do know where we should go.”
— Pastor Gregg
We go to the Lord, with the small things and the big things, while also getting good care from the doctors and nurses God uses. As Pastor Gregg put it, we pray for both medicine and miracles.
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Key Points
Six biblical reasons for sickness.
We live in a fallen world. Unwise and sinful choices take a toll. Sometimes there is divine judgment, and sometimes demonic activity, as with Job. God may have a higher purpose, as with the man born blind in John 9. And sometimes, honestly, we just don’t know. Pastor Gregg pointed us to Deuteronomy 29:29: the secret things belong to the Lord. Figuring out the “why” matters far less than knowing the “where.”
Pushing God away doesn’t push away the sickness.
Some people get angry at God when illness comes and shut Him out. But when we do that, the sickness is still there. All we’ve removed is the Comforter and the Healer.
Miriam’s sickness began with pride.
In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron criticize Moses over his Cushite wife, but verse 2 shows what was really going on. They were jealous. “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” God called all three to the tent of meeting, defended His servant Moses, and Miriam was struck with leprosy. Her sickness became the tool God used to humble her.
Moses prayed for the sister who wronged him.
Scripture calls Moses the humblest man on earth, and he proved it. He didn’t say she got what she deserved. He cried out, “God, please heal her.” Miriam spent seven days outside the camp, and the whole nation waited for her before moving on.
God heals in three ways.
Healing can be instant. It can be a process, through medicine and miracle together. Or it can be ultimate, the eternal healing of salvation. Jesus healed by touch, by word, from a distance, with mud, and through the faith of four friends who lowered a man through a roof. At times God has also held back healing for a higher purpose, as with Paul’s thorn in the flesh. That’s why the healing that saves us matters most of all.
God still answers prayer.
Pastor Gregg shared how a church member, after five years on the transplant list, received a new liver and kidney just days after being prayed for at our last healing service. He also shared a voicemail from Pastor Roger Patterson of West University Baptist Church, who was healed at nine years old after Houston’s First leaders prayed over him in his hospital bed.
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Life Applications
Ask “where,” not just “why.”
When sickness comes, go to the Lord first. See your doctor, and pray. God uses both.
Look for what God is doing beyond your health.
Illness can turn all our attention inward. Ask what God might be teaching you, where you can grow more humble, and how you can honor Him in this season.
Bring your will under God’s will.
Like Jesus in Gethsemane, we can ask for the cup to pass and still say, “Not my will, but Yours.” That isn’t giving up. It’s trusting the ultimate Healer.
“God, I know that You can. I ask that You would. And Your will be done.”
— How Pastor Gregg prays for the sick
Pray for others by name.
Our job is to humbly intercede for our friends, even the ones who are hard to love, just as Moses did for Miriam. Then tell them, “I prayed for you today.”
Be sure of the healing that lasts forever.
Physical healing is for this life. The healing Jesus gives through salvation is eternal. If you’ve never trusted Him as your Savior, today is the day.
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Save the Date • Sunday, November 15
Pull Up a Chair: Friendsgiving on the Lawn Is Coming!
Some Sundays are made for lingering. On Sunday, November 15, right after class, we’re gathering on the Lawn at Houston’s First for our annual Foundations Friendsgiving lunch, and you’ll want to be there. It’s a class tradition, and every year it reminds us how much we have to be thankful for, starting with each other.
This is a potluck, so start thinking now about the dish you’re famous for, whether that’s Grandma’s dressing, a pecan pie, or a store-bought favorite you’re proud of. And don’t come alone. Friendsgiving is the perfect first step for a friend, neighbor, or coworker who’s been looking for a place to belong.
Save the date now. Sign-up details are coming soon. Until then, mark your calendar, plan your dish, and pick out the friend you’ll invite.
There’s a seat at the table with your name on it.
Lesson Review • The Hall of Faith
He Still Speaks: What Abel’s Offering Reveals About Our Hearts
“Authentic Worship - The Faith of Abel” • Hebrews 11:4 • Interactive Class Lesson • September 20, 2026
Two brothers. Two offerings. One question that still presses on every heart. On September 20, Foundations friends opened the case file on Genesis 4 as our Hall of Faith series continued, and the evidence pointed to something deeper than produce versus livestock: am I simply performing an act of worship, or am I truly coming to God by faith?
Hebrews 11:4 delivers the verdict. By faith Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice, God himself bore witness by accepting his gifts, and though Abel died, he still speaks. Remarkably, Scripture never records a single word Abel said. His faith does all the talking.
Abel brought the firstborn of his flock and the fat portions. Yet the text never says Cain held back his best. The clearest evidence came afterward: when God questioned him, Cain’s face fell, and anger rose where repentance should have. The offering did not purchase God’s favor. It made Abel’s faith visible. The worshipper comes first, then the gift. Friends connected this to Malachi’s challenge: would we hand an important official the leftovers we sometimes offer God?
“God was not looking only at what was in their hands. He was looking at what ruled their hearts.”
— Authentic Worship - The Faith of Abel
Then came the warning: sin is crouching at the door. Suzanne walked the tables through James 1:13–15, where desire conceives sin and sin, full grown, brings death. Notice the timing. God spoke to Cain before Cain ever led Abel into the field. The warning comes before the destructive act, and Cain had every chance to turn back. As Doug observed, Cain enjoyed the rare blessing of hearing God speak to him directly, and he walked away from it.
The lesson traced three mistreated brothers across Scripture. Cain killed the brother he envied. Joseph saved the brothers who envied him. Jesus died to save those who rejected him. Rejection does not cancel God’s purpose.
And that is where Abel’s story points us. His offering speaks faith, his blood cries for justice, and his life speaks beyond death. But Hebrews 12:24 tells us Jesus’ sprinkled blood speaks a better word. Abel’s blood cries for justice against the guilty. Jesus’ blood offers forgiveness to the guilty.
One friend closed with an observation worth carrying into the week: God’s extended conversation in this story is with Cain. God pursues the prodigal, so we never cut the cord with the neighbor, friend, or sibling who has wandered.
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Your Faithful Response
Before we left, each friend silently chose one step:
Give God my first and best. Let priorities reveal a God worth honoring.
Receive correction without resentment. Answer the warning at the door before it rules the heart.
Pursue reconciliation instead of rivalry. The gospel turns brothers toward one another.
Trust Christ’s better word instead of demanding vengeance. His blood speaks forgiveness.
If your faith could speak after your life is over, what would you want it to say about God?
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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 →
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