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 question that this text poses for us today is “What does it mean to believe in the resurrection?”
On this Day Handel Begins Composing Messiah, and 5 Things We Can Learn From It
Luke does not tell us who asked it. But it’s a good question. “Lord, will those who are saved be few?”
A person, not a nation, can be a Christian because only a person can be saved by grace through faith in the work of Christ.
Contrary to what pop-psychology, social media memes, and your sweet grandmother told you, you are not fine just the way you are.
[Luther's] Catechism is at home in the evangelical pulpit, guiding and shaping what the preacher says so faith might be created and love given direction.
Preaching is simply the verbal bestowal of what Scripture has already given us in written form
Stories like Onoda’s offer an interesting parallel to our life in the Gospel.
These new texts and manuscripts, while not altering the message of the text, can give us better insight into particular historical and grammatical issues.
Indeed, baptism is life because resurrection is life. Nothing short of regeneration—renewal of life—is accomplished by God through sheer grace because of Christ Jesus.
Jesus names what life does not consist of, and in doing so he gets to something near and dear to our hearts as Americans—our possessions.
These treasures show us that, no matter how well we think we know this poem, there’s always more layers to uncover.