Gregg Matte

Senior pastor at Houston’s First Baptist Church, Gregg Matte is the founder and former Director of Breakaway Ministries at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

Gregg started Breakaway in 1989 during his sophomore year in college; it expanded from a home-based Bible study to what is now a weekly gathering of over 4,000 students. Before arriving in its present home inside Reed Arena on the Texas A&M campus, the ministry outgrew apartments, conference centers, school libraries, theaters, and other churches in the community. Breakaway continues to be a strong and vibrant ministry to college students and has become one of the largest college Bible studies in the nation. Many have come to know Jesus for the first time as a result of the ministry, while others, who have come to know Him as Savior, have now made Him Lord.

In 2004, Gregg was hired as senior pastor of Houston’s First Baptist Church. As pastor, he has five areas of focus: Preaching/Teaching, Vision-Casting, Personnel Leadership, Shepherding, and Public Relations.

Graduating from Texas A&M University in 1992, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1999, Gregg is the author of The Highest Education: Becoming a Godly Man and the executive producer of numerous praise and worship CD’s for Breakaway. He also uses his spiritual gifts to preach and teach at conferences, camps, and retreats across the nation.

Gregg summarizes his ministry as an overflow of his walk with God, and colleagues and friends add “he is a man after the heart of God, possessing strong integrity, true leadership, the gift of preaching, and a humble spirit.”

He and his wife Kelly were married in 1997 and they have a son, Greyson.

Gregg Matte “Unplugged”

We spent some time with Gregg working on a ministry project and during that time we asked him some questions about Christian identity, finding purpose, and his life in ministry. You can see more of Gregg in one of the video resources on the right.

Why do you think there is such an identity crisis among Christians today?

Gregg Matte: Christianity for a lot of us is an event and not a lifestyle. Our Christianity becomes an identity of a certain event instead of the lifestyle of walking with God. I am a Christian that happens to be an accountant, not an accountant that happens to be a Christian. My number one identity is who I am in Christ. Everything else in my life is built off of that foundation…without that solid foundation the rest of our life is spent in one big identity crisis.

As a pastor, you must stay busy, how do keep your priorities balanced?

Gregg Matte: The way that I decide between important and urgent is I begin my day with three things: I pray, I plan, and I proceed. Most of our society proceeds, then it doesn’t go too well so they start planning, then they begin to pray if things are really going bad.

What encourages you when you feel overwhelmed in your ministry?

Gregg Matte: There’s so many pressures that come at us in different ways, shapes and forms. A verse that has really helped me is 2 Corinthians 3:5. It says our adequacy does not come from ourselves but it comes from Christ who has made us adequate…I love that verse because the pressure is not on me. I’m just a follower, I’m just a sheep following the shepherd. The pressure is on God and He can handle that…there’s great freedom in knowing that Jesus Christ is the one that’s leading us. The pressure is not on my performance or my ability or my skills, but just on me to follow Jesus every single day.

How do you encourage young people to find their purpose?

Gregg Matte: Purpose is found by not just sitting on the bench, but being involved in the game…the purpose and passion and the joy of life is found when you get off the bench and you get out in the game. Get involved in whatever it is—who knows what it will be. You might have to try three or four things before you really find where God wants you to be.