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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Why did the church dedicate a day to St. Michael anyway? Who is he, and what does he do?
Tetzel peddled righteousness for gold, but God gives it freely through faith in his promised Word, the person and work of Jesus Christ.
This is the first installment in the 1517 articles series, “What Makes a Saint?”
It's one thing to hope for a new reality; it's quite another to stand before it, no matter how wonderful.
Repentance is not limited to a season.
You cannot sever the saint from the sinner. Christians remain both simultaneously.
There is no one — not now, not ever — who cannot be included in the family of God through the efficacy of Christ’s saving power.
Be relieved, whatever has had you anxious. He is with us and about his Father’s business, which is your salvation.
It's a new year, and you are still the same you: a sinner who is simultaneously perfect in every way because Christ declares it to be so.
The “Chalking of the Door” is a way to celebrate and literally mark the occasion of the Epiphany and God’s blessing of our lives and home.
The narrative of the Nativity is what Christmas is all about.
In Simeon's hands and Anna's gaze, we are reminded of God's promise—not distant, not fading, but alive.