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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The Messenger is coming—must come—because the LORD God has promised, and He is unchanging and always faithful no matter how unfaithful His people may be.
Like Isaiah and John, we look forward to that great and glorious day, trusting the resurrected One will return as He promised.
God is in control, and we are actively engaged in God’s work of saving the world.
In Genesis 1-2, the Lord reveals—or, at a bare minimum, starts dropping some big hints—that he will be quite comfortable becoming a human being himself someday.
The Word of Yahweh is not a trifling thing that can be visited only when it’s convenient. It’s a book of life, for all of life, that imparts life to those who believe in it and the God of it.
That's how true faith talks. It doesn't talk about itself. It says "Thank you!" to the one who gives healing and salvation.
In Christ, all things are new. This is also true in so far as His three-fold office of prophet, priest, and king.
Thanksgiving utters a confession of dependence, an acknowledgement of the gift of something not earned or deserved.
Preaching on this text isnan invitation to express love and longing in your relationship with your hearers.
The oddness of this moment, at the beginning of Advent, is God’s way of saying, “The reason I’m here...”
The youths that mock Elisha are representative of Israel’s collective contempt and disregard for all things relating to their One True God.
What I like about Giertz’s approach is the devotional nature of these commentaries. He’s a pastor concerned with what these texts have to say to us today.