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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We must not submit ourselves to false gods and godless men. Instead, we may hold fast to Christ, because He’s holding fast to us.
That is the good news that ifies all hand wringing and wipes away every tear from every eye.
In our attempts to flee from our fears and escape death, we will become imprisoned by them.
The disciplines of history and archaeology have assisted in demonstrating the integrity and accuracy of the Bible.
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.
Jesus did not come to be first. He came to be faithful, faithful to His Father’s mission for you.
Only through Christ and his work are our sins forgiven, and our consciences set free and made glad.
The gift of new life through His death and resurrection, creates Christ’s children, all of whom are being sent with beautiful feet and beautiful tongue and lips to serve as the Lord’s hitmen and midwives.
If your congregation promotes and supports “family values,” you should be prepared to take this text head-on.
The Father in Heaven is the only one we have legitimate reason to fear. But in Christ, we learn that the Father knows His children intimately and values His children exceedingly.
The gospel does not proclaim the results of our practical reasoning about things we experience, but the horror of God crucified for our sins and at our hands.