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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Christ presents to us such liberty, so that we as Christians according to our faith may tolerate no other master, but only hold that we are baptized and called unto Christ, and through him have become justified and sanctified.
These parables invite us to consider the mysterious way of the reign of God. The Kingdom of God comes by grace to those who are seeking and not seeking it.
The good news of Jesus Christ guides us into godly worship, not self-worship.
In Christ, God promises to forgive sin and bring about new life: Life after being canceled.
We have seen a vision better than an angel. We have seen God on the cross. A God who is willing to suffer for us.
In our attempts to flee from our fears and escape death, we will become imprisoned by them.
Love is to be the interpreter of law. Where there is no love, these things are meaningless, and law begins to do harm.
We cannot control the resistance of people to God’s Word, but we can trust in God’s power and promise to work through His Word.
Using common everyday events, Carnell sought to clarify that there are three standards of duty that we demand others to respect to protect our dignity.
Jesus did not come to be first. He came to be faithful, faithful to His Father’s mission for you.
If your congregation promotes and supports “family values,” you should be prepared to take this text head-on.
Before you object that what we need is change - not salvation - let me remind you that our shouts for change are evidence of our need for a savior.