Foundations of Faith
A Story Worth Stopping For: Doug Shares His Testimony
Sunday mornings move fast. Coffee, conversation, a seat in the Rehearsal Hall, and before long we're deep in the lesson. But every so often, something comes along that's worth slowing down for — and this is one of those moments.
This week, our friend Doug sits down to share his testimony — the story of how God has worked in his life, told in his own words. If you've ever visited with Doug on a Sunday morning, you already know his warmth. What you may not know is the road that brought him here.
Start with this short preview:
Every testimony is a reminder that God is still writing stories — right here among our friends.
Foundations of Faith
When you're ready, pour a second cup of coffee and read Doug's full testimony below. It's a story worth stopping for.
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Sunday Message Recap
Holy: Jesus is Our Holiness
Leviticus 20:22–26 • Pastor Gregg • Sunday, August 2, 2026
Three plates from the kitchen made the point before a single verse was read. A paper plate, an everyday plate, and a piece of fine china — the kind that lives in a lighted cabinet and has never once seen a hot dog. In his fourth message from Leviticus, Pastor Gregg used those plates to show us what God means when He says His people are set apart. We are not throwaways, and we are not meant to blend in with everything around us. We are precious in His sight, on display for His glory.
Walking through Leviticus 20:22–26 and the "holiness code," Pastor Gregg unpacked the most famous verse in the book: "You are to be holy because I am holy." He drew a helpful line between the ceremonial laws, which Christ has fulfilled, and the moral laws — sexual purity, idolatry, justice — which remain in full effect for believers today. And he reminded us that holiness was never a path to a dull, restricted life. It is the road to the land of milk and honey — sustenance and sweetness, provision and blessing.
We don't obey to be loved — because we're loved, we obey.
Pastor Gregg
Key takeaways from Sunday's message:
Salvation is received, not achieved. Holiness flows from grace — it is never a way of earning God's love, but our response to the love He has already shown us in Christ.
God's people are called to the blessing of obedience. Milk pictured sustenance; honey pictured sweetness. Our God does not merely provide for His people — He blesses them.
Be different. Every age and every stage has its predictable temptations — apathy, impurity, materialism, pride, coasting through the middle years. Holiness means standing out right where everyone else blends in.
Holiness comes through the Holy Spirit, not willpower. Holiness is living out what Jesus has given us — His power at work in us, not our own effort, guilt, or discipline.
The real thing is irresistible. Pastor Gregg shared C.S. Lewis's observation that people who think holiness is dull have never met the real thing. The most exciting place on earth is with the people of God, the praises of God, and the word of God.
The challenge for the week ahead is a simple prayer: ask God to show you one area where you have been blending in when He is calling you to stand out. Not to beat yourself up, and not to shrug it off — but to take the next step of holiness, trusting the One who is our holiness.
Missed Sunday, or want to hear it again? Watch the full message below:
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Men on a Mission
Trail Boss Richard Sounds the Call: The BBQ Trail Rides Again This Month
It started with a song. Sunday morning, Trail Boss Richard stepped up and serenaded the class with his own barbecue-flavored spin on a certain country classic about life on the road — and just like that, the trail is calling again.
This ride comes with a tip from one of our very own. Ron Chow pointed the Trail Boss toward Old Hickory Inn Barbecue, a Houston institution that's been slow-smoking brisket since 1963. After six decades at its old spot, Old Hickory recently moved into a brand-new building at the corner of Hillcroft and Braeswood — and Richard, who personally scouted it on Friday, reports it may be the nicest barbecue joint the trail has ever visited. New building, same old-fashioned Texas barbecue: brisket, ribs, sausage, and all the fixings.
Next Stop: Old Hickory Inn Barbecue — Thursday, August 27 at 11:20 — 9601 Hillcroft (at Braeswood)
Trail Boss Richard is reserving the table — let him know you're riding along.
Brisket. Brotherhood. And a Trail Boss who knows where all the good smoke is. You've got a few weeks — consider this the bug in your ear. Mark your calendar for Thursday, August 27, and come hungry, friends. The trail rides on.
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Set Free — A Summer Study in Galatians
Do or Done: Rand Wall on Why Faith, Not Works, Makes Us Right with God
"How Law and Faith Work Together" • Galatians 3:6–22 • Rand Wall • Sunday, August 2, 2026
There are two kinds of religion in the world, Rand told us Sunday: do religions and done religion. Every other faith says do — do this, do that, keep doing, and maybe you'll earn your way to God. True Christianity says something entirely different: it has been done. When Jesus cried out from the cross, "It is finished," He was declaring that everything required for our salvation was finished, complete, accomplished, and perfected — and the veil was torn from top to bottom, because God did it, not man.
Teaching from Galatians 3:6–22 in our "Set Free" study, Rand traced Paul's argument against the false teachers of Galatia, who insisted that ritual and law-keeping made a person acceptable to God. Paul's answer reaches all the way back to Abraham — who came four hundred thirty years before the law was ever given to Moses. Abraham simply believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Faith came before the law, and those who are of faith are the true sons of Abraham.
FAITH: Forsaking All I Trust Him. Is that you and me?
Rand Wall
Key takeaways from Sunday's lesson:
The seed is singular. God's covenant promise was made to Abraham and his seed — one, not many — and that seed is Jesus Christ. Through Him, the blessing of Abraham reaches us Gentiles, and in Christ, we are Abraham's seed too.
Why the law, then? The law was our schoolmaster — in the Greek, the paidagōgós, the trusted guide who walked a child to school and home again. It was given to show us our sin and lead us to Christ. It never had the power to give life; it could only prove how much we need a Savior.
Christ redeemed us from the curse. Jesus became a curse for us, exchanging His perfect righteousness for our unrighteousness. And Rand drew a distinction worth holding onto: God does not excuse our sin — He forgives it.
The just shall live by faith. Rand took us to Wittenberg, where a doctor of theology named Martin Luther — who had punished himself mercilessly over his sin — finally read the Bible for himself and found Romans 1:17. That one verse set the Reformation in motion, and it still sets people free today.
Grace leaves no room for boasting. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." Baptism, church membership, and good deeds all have their place — but none of them saves. Faith alone does.
And then came a moment nobody planned. Rand wanted to close with a song and couldn't find it anywhere — until a friend in the room held up the very recording: "Redeemed." The class ended with that old declaration of what Christ has done for us, and as more than one friend said on the way out, that wasn't a coincidence. That was the Holy Spirit.
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Set Free — A Summer Study in Galatians
No Longer Slaves, But Sons: Bill Wright Teaches Freedom Through Faith
"Freedom Through Faith" • Galatians 4:1–31 • Bill Wright • Sunday, August 9, 2026
Picture an heir to a great estate. Everything belongs to him — every field, every fortune — yet as a child he lives no differently than a servant, kept under guardians and tutors until the day appointed by his father. That's the picture Paul paints as he opens Galatians 4, and it sets up the announcement at the very center of the chapter: the waiting is over. When the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, so that we might receive adoption as sons and daughters — and His Spirit in our hearts now cries out, "Abba! Father!"
This Sunday, Bill Wright continues our "Set Free" journey with "Freedom Through Faith," walking us through the whole sweep of Galatians 4. We'll see why the tutor's work is finished now that Christ has come, hear Paul's tender, almost parental appeal to friends he loves — begging them not to trade their freedom for the old chains — and unpack one of the most fascinating passages in the letter: the allegory of Sarah and Hagar, two mothers and two covenants. Paul's conclusion lands on every one of us: like Isaac, we are children of the promise, not of the law.
You are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
Galatians 4:7
If you've ever felt like you're still working to earn a place at the table, this lesson is for you — the seat is already yours. Join us Sunday at 10:45 AM in the Rehearsal Hall, and bring a friend along. There's plenty of room in the family.
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