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.

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Christian mercy should not seek its own. It must be round, and open its eyes and look at all alike, friend and foe, as our heavenly Father does.
Despite the very real obstacles and difficulties, this entire scene is marked by God’s gracious work.
Nuance and subtlety have been replaced with scorched-earth contempt. It is us versus them. Compromise is not an option. Jesus, however, would have none of it.
Ethics begins not with our doing, but with the Triune God’s giving.
Jesus comes to people and changes everything. “Before” is long gone. “After” is a whole new world.
When the Law is viewed in its true light, when its "glory" is revealed, it is found to do nothing more than to kill man and sink him into condemnation.
For Japan’s highly secularized elite, alienated by collapsing opportunity and the materialistic void left behind, Bach’s music was a balm.
As astounding as co-eternity and co-equality with the Father in majesty and glory is, this is not the most significant answer Jesus gave in this Gospel reading, not for us at least.
The celebration of Trinity Sunday–the only church festival specifically dedicated to a doctrine–reminds us of the necessity of confessing that the one God exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The list of things our kids need to know when they leave the house is much simpler than we might believe.
Celebrate the 4th Year of the 1517 Podcast Network with a Special Gift.
Pentecost is a flashback. It drives us back to the past. It also propels us forward into the future.