Navigation

Many pages have moved around to be easier to find but may not be exactly where they used to be. Here are a few important changes to our navigation:

Start Here

General church info, including Times & Locations & Meet Our Team, is located under the Start Here section. This is a perfect place to send guests to learn more about our church as a whole!

Connect

Life Bible Studies, Milestones, Missions and Volunteers are grouped under Connect, a great spot for visitors & members to find connecting points within the church and midweek activities.

Life Stages

Age/group based ministries are all located under Life Stages such as Kids, Young Single Adults, Men & Women.

Find Help

All support based ministries like The Counseling Centerg, First HOPE Job Ministry, and Faith Center are under Find Help with names that match the purpose of the ministry (IE: CanHope, our support ministry for those impacted by cancer, is under "Cancer Support")

Media

Video & audio messages and various resources are under Media like before, along with Corner Books & Staff/Volunteer Resources.

Special Interests

All other public services & ministries like FItness & Recreation, School of Fine Arts, and Culinary Services are located at the very top under Special Interests.

Explore the dropdown navigation at the top to aquaint yourself with the new organization and find new pages!

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Features

Filtering

Possibly the greatest features of the new website is the ability to filter content and see only the items you want! Bible Studies, Events, Mission Trips, Volunteer Opportunities, and Messages all feature selectable categories to help you find exactly what you're looking for.

Mobile Site

Browsing from your iPhone or Android phone? Check out our Mobile Website! It has the most vital information available in a portable, easy to read format. You can always get back to the full site by using the link in the mobile navigation.

Calendar

Need a better overview of Upcoming Events? Check out the Calendar View to see all events in a month-by-month view!

Improved Search

Confused by the new navigation? Try out our improved Search! Use the search box at the top of every page to quickly find relevant content, including Events, Bible Studies and Messages!

That's not all!

There are so many new features and updates, we could go on for days! Explore the site yourself and let us know what you think on our Feedback Form.

New Bible study by Pastor Gregg Matte. Available at Corner Books and LifeWay

Sex is powerful and personal, emotional, and even spiritual.  And did we mention how complicated it is? Join Pastor Gregg as he unpacks 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 to help us better understand God’s purpose and design for sex and sexuality – whether you’re single, dating, or married.

In Birds and Bees: A Conversation About God, Sex, and Sexuality, you will discover what God's Word has to say about sex and sexuality.  The truth is, we need to better understand God's purpose and design for it — whether you're single, dating, or married.  Yes, "the talk" about the birds and the bees may have been awkward when you were a kid, but don't you think it's time for a real, grown-up conversation?

Sessions covered in the Birds and Bees study guide include:

• God, Sex, and You
• The Way It's Meant to Be
• Kicking the Hive: Lust
• Flying the Coop: Homosexuality
• Healing Bee Stings
• Hearing Birds Sing

A Leader Kit is available for people wanting to lead a small group through Birds and Bees. The Leader Kit includes:

• 6 sessions
• Leader Guide
• A copy of the Birds and Bees Study Guide
• Supplemental videos to enhance small group discussion
• Birds and Bees playlist
• Supplemental articles and resources
• Thought-provoking questions good for personal reflection or group discussion
• Discusses hot-button cultural issues, including homosexuality, lust, singleness, and divorce
• Addresses the wounds we all have related to sex and sexuality and the healing that God offers in Jesus Christ

Availability

Birds and Bees is available at Corner Books inside Houston's First At the Loop.

• $9.95 for each study guide
• $49.95 for each Leader Kit

The book and Leader Kit can also be purchased from LifeWay.

Message Series

Pastor Gregg covered the topic of sex and sexuality in a message series called "The Birds & The Bees" at Houston's First in January 2009. To this day, they remain among the most requested CDs at Corner Books. You can view the series online below, or purchase CDs for $1 each inside Corner Books.

• The Birds & The Bees (Part 1)
• The Birds & The Bees (Part 2)
• The Birds & The Bees (Part 3)

Spread The Word

Share the news about Birds and Bees with your friends and others in your life:

• Facebook - post a status update with a link to this page
• Twitter - tweet a link to this page and use #BirdsAndBees when mentioning the book
• Blogs - share an entry on your personal blog about the book
• Word-of-mouth - nothing beats a personal recommendation!

I AM changes who i am

New release by Pastor Gregg Matte

Available at Corner Books and online from

As Our Own, Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Living the Christian life isn’t easy, especially in today’s culture. To be who and do what God commands, Christians need to recapture the miraculous. Unfortunately, miracles have been left either with cable TV faith healers or tour guides in the Holy Land. That has to change, because it’s by seeing what God does that we discover who He is. And knowing who He is and what He does will change who we are and what we do.

In his newest book, I AM changes who i am, Pastor Gregg Matte believes that the seven "I AM" statements and the seven miracles recorded in the Gospel of John can give believers a framework for living God's will.  Readers will explore what Jesus says and does and find out what that means for their walk with Him.

Benefitting As Our Own

Pastor Gregg is donating a portion of the proceeds from the sales of I AM changes who i am to As Our Own, a "Christ-based, community-driven movement in India that rescues vulnerable children from certain enslavement and exploitation, caring for them as our own." The story of Shanti, one of the girls rescued by As Our Own, is told in the book. If you purchase the book directly from As Our Own, 100% of the proceeds will benefit their ministry.

Availability

I AM changes who i am is available at Corner Books inside Houston's First At the Loop and at the Corner Books kiosk at the Downtown campus.

• $17 per book for single copies
• $15 per book for 2 or more copies

The book can also be purchased directly from As Our Own and from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other retailers -- online and in stores.

Spread The Word

Share the news about I AM changes who i am with your friends and others in your life:

• Facebook - post a status update with a link to this page
• Twitter - tweet a link to this page and use #IAMbook when mentioning the book
• Blogs - share an entry on your personal blog about the book
• Word-of-mouth - nothing beats a personal recommendation!

Pastor Gregg announced in late 2011 that he would begin preaching out of the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) in 2012. This page will answer some questions about the transition and introduce you to the HCSB, as well as provide helpful resources for your personal Bible study.

Why Make The Transition?

Two qualities to look for in a Bible are accuracy and readability.  The New International Version (NIV) met those criteria and has been the primary translation used by Pastor Gregg and other speakers within Houston's First, including Pastor Emeritus Dr. John Bisagno who first made the transition from the New King James Version (NKJV) to the NIV during his tenure as Pastor.

In 2011, the publishers of the NIV (1984) released a revised version of that translation. With the publication of this new edition, the 1984 edition of the NIV will no longer be produced. Upon review of the changes made to the NIV, Pastor Gregg believes that it is no longer as accurate in terms of reflecting the meaning of the original biblical texts.  Therefore, he has decided to use the HCSB based on its accuracy and overall readability.  Since the HCSB is the translation used in the LifeWay materials used by many of our Life Bible Studies, this provides for a consistent translation.

What Does This Mean For Houston's First?

During his messages, Pastor Gregg will use the HCSB when reading from the Bible. Therefore, that is the translation that will be shown on the video screens during the worship services. Also, the seatback Bibles in the Worship Center, Chapel and Downtown have been replaced with HCSB editions. (The former NIV (1984) seatback Bibles were given to the Faith Center for their use.) Corner Books will carry HCSB and other translations of the Bible.

What Does This Mean For Me?

Members and guests are welcome to use any translation of their choice -- during the worship services, in Life Bible Studies, or for personal study of God's Word. The church does not dictate what translations should -- or should not -- be used by our members or guests. Even our Life Bible Study teachers are welcome to use other translations if they prefer.

What is the HCSB?

Watch the video above to see how the HCSB differs from other Bible translations

More information is available directly from HCSB.org, such as this segment:

100 scholars and English stylists from 17 denominations, prayerfully, translated what is one of the most significant Bible translations available, the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). Taking into account the significant advancements in scholarship, translation theory, and contemporary English usage, the HCSB will satisfy both those new to the faith and seasoned scholars. While there are many reasons why the HCSB was produced, here are two extremely significant ones:

1.  English is changing rapidly, and Bible translations must keep pace.

More than 1.3 billion people speak or read English as a primary or secondary language, and this widespread usage forces rapid changes. Words and phrases that were commonly used in the recent past are no longer part of contemporary speech, often sounding strange to modern ears.

2.  Advances in biblical research provide new data for Bible translators.

Biblical scholars today actually have better information about ancient texts than scholars did years ago. While translations made even in the last 10 or 20 years do not reflect some of these significant advances in research, the HCSB incorporates vast amounts of this information.

Resources

Corner Books

A wide variety of HCSBs and related resources can be found in Corner Books at Houston's First.

Online

The HCSB is available to read online for free at YouVersion.com, BibleGateway.com, and many other websites.

You can also take your personal study of God's Word online with MyStudyBible.com. This dynamic and interactive tool is available online and on mobile devices (learn more). See what this robust resource has to offer -- whether you're preparing to teach a lesson or simply seeking to better understand God's Word.

Apps

Many Bible apps that include HCSB are available for your favorite mobile devices. You can download YouVersion's Bible app for iPhone & iPad or Android for free, or you can purchase the official HCSB Study Bible app for iPhone & iPad.

Social Media

Connect with the Holman Christian Standard Bible on Facebook and Twitter for the latest information and updates.