Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!

A Sermon for St. Titus Day

From First Thoughts

Pastor Mason Beecroft, of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, preached this very fine sermon today, for St. Titus Day.“He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict . . . . Continue Reading »

The Pro-Life Generation

From First Thoughts

Thanks to Dr. Gene Edward Veith, for this post:The pro-abortionists are worried. Journalist Robert McCartney, one of their number, explains why:I went to the March for Life rally Friday on the Mall expecting to write about its irrelevance. Isn’t it quaint, I thought, that these abortion . . . . Continue Reading »

The Conversion of St. Paul: January 25

From First Thoughts

Can there be a more magnificent example of the love, grace and mercy of God than the conversion of our father in Christ, St. Paul? From persecutor to preacher, from murderer of the saints, to the merciful lover of all souls. The Scripture readings appointed for today are:Acts 9:1-22Galatians . . . . Continue Reading »

The Center of God’s Revelation

From First Thoughts

It never ceases to amaze me how often I forget this profound truth:“The center of God’s revelation is Christ. All that God is to us, He is in Christ. All that we know of God, we know through Christ.” (Henry Eyster Jacobs, Elements of Religion, p. 170).So often we are tempted to . . . . Continue Reading »

The Church’s Calendar

From First Thoughts

The Christian Church Year is such a blessing. Many people who are new to the Lutheran Church, or other liturgical churches, coming from general evangelical protestantism, are unfamiliar with the ancient custom of observing a series of festivals, also known as “feasts,” and unique times . . . . Continue Reading »

No “End Run” Around the Cross

From First Thoughts

Here is a graphic that, Rev. James Douthwaite, at St. Athanasius Lutheran Church in Vienna, Virginia, uses to explain how we should always factor in the Cross when we consider our relationship to God and His relationship to us. (A parishioner made this visual image.)So, in God’s relationship . . . . Continue Reading »