This is an excerpt from the introduction of Stretched: A Study for Lent and the Entire Christian Life by Christopher Richmann (1517 Publishing, 2026).
We can bring our troubles, griefs, sorrows, and sins to Jesus, who meets us smack dab in the middle of our messy mob.
Confession isn’t a detour in the liturgy. It’s the doorway.

All Articles

For with God we look not for the order of nature, but rest our faith in the power of him who works.
Help comes for those who cannot help themselves. When we bottom-out and come to the end of ourselves, that is where hope springs.
The epistle text from Colossians 1 declares how the great drama of redemption and human history ends.
We don’t start with behavior and work toward Christ. We start with Christ and everything works out from there.
The name of God invites us on a journey to see how God will remain present with his people, listen to their cries for salvation, know their sufferings in such an intimate way so as to incarnate them in Christ.
The good news is that with our God there is always more: more than we deserve, dare, ask, or expect, more than we can see, hear, feel, or think.
There is no true life and meaningful community apart from forgiveness.
The reason that God’s commandments are not burdensome is that Jesus has fulfilled them.
Both now and forever, the bruised and crucified Lord nailed to a cross is our assurance of deliverance.
Every day is a Sabbath for Christians. Every day is the day the Lord has made. Every day is a day to find rest in Christ.
Righteousness before God is possessed only by grace and that through the currency of faith.
The love mentioned in 1 John 4:15-21 fourteen times (!) is a love that needs no apology but is determined at all times to sacrifice for the other.