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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In this piece, 1517’s Director of Publishing, Steve Byrnes, shares a personal story about a period of doubt in his life that eventually was replaced with confidence through God’s provision, and the care of the Christian community.
No plot spoilers here just some really Good News
Delwyn Campbell wrestles with a situation that demands love and justice
Finding rest in God when the “what ifs”come calling
Honest confession brings us into the fatherly care of God where we are always greeted with grace, mercy, peace, love, and forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
A pastor is sent to proclaim the unconditional grace of God, reminding us again and again that it is our Heavenly Father who reaches out to us in love through his Christ-won forgiveness, and not the other way around.
If Jesus did not rise, then religion is just religion — a mere anthropological phenomenon.
Grace comes for every foolish, self-absorbed sinner, for every “Nabal,” and announces that there is one who has already taken it upon himself to shoulder all of our wrongdoing, paying the price for it through the sacrifice of himself.
Christ Jesus brings his word and presence to where you are and he is even willing to do so through the likes of your personally present pastor.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep bursts through the confines of convention and demands that we embrace the messiness of life and the unpredictable ways in which God's grace and forgiveness operates.
What I desperately needed was not to preach to myself, but to listen to a preacher—not to take myself in hand, but to be taken in the hands of the Almighty.
Tim wanted everyone to know to the deepest part of their being that they were justified by Christ alone.