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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Sin is driven by disordered love, and it is love in this sense that leads to all the pain and suffering in the world.
Contrary to common American Christian thinking, you would emphasize the individual is not the center of the biblical narrative. Christianity is not primarily about me and my relationship with Jesus.
David is unable to find an example to accurately compare the purity that flows from God washing a sinner. The winter snow is the best example David can come up with, but it still falls short.
It is impossible to obtain grace and the forgiveness of sins in any other way, manner, or measure than by hearing the Word of God about Christ and by receiving it through faith.
There is not a soul who crosses the threshold of the sanctuary who is excluded from the message of the gospel of forgiveness.
Jesus invites us to practice a faith that is bold. He invites us to trust in Him, without calculations.
No matter how great our thirst is, God's abundance not only meets it but quenches it. When we are poor and in need, the Lord is always there to give us grace and mercy without end.
Maybe for the first time you can begin to receive creation as a gift, a sheer gift from God’s hands. And who knows what might happen in the power of this grace? All possibilities are open.
"Whom shall we fear?" We fear no one. We're not afraid of anything. Instead, we wait for the Lord with good courage. He will strengthen our hearts, as the psalmist writes (Ps 27:1).
Imagine a world where love is given to the least. That is what Jesus is inviting His disciples to do in His parable this morning.
This is an excerpt from “Crucifying Religion” written by Donavon Riley (1517 Publishing, 2019).
As much as Luther calls Christians to a sober belief in the devil, he also calls them to a firm and steadfast faith in Christ