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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To understand the meaning of the Pentecost miracle for the life of a Christian, we must first learn to see it through the lens of the history that came before it.
At the foot of Mt. Sinai, God told Israel how to celebrate Pentecost once they reached the holy land. Generations later, on the day of this Old Testament festival, Christ poured out his Spirit in Jerusalem. What made Pentecost the ideal day for this gift to be given?
When Revelation’s words read against their original context, old meaning and new meaning are simultaneously brought to light as language and imagery is translated from the Old Testament to the New.
We must also remember that our enemy is a creature of God. He is someone for whom Christ Jesus died. He is a sinner just like any other, no more or less selfish than us.
The biggest point Luther makes about the descent is not that Jesus triumphed over hell idle and unaffected, but that Jesus defeated hell by suffering hell away.
Whether we are sheltering at home on Pentecost or gathering together in church, we have reason for praise. Jesus Christ is the source of the Spirit and that Spirit will never fail.
Of course it is the same Holy Spirit, but on this Day of Pentecost, it is important to explore the differences between the Old Testament Spirit and the New Testament Spirit.
In their last Q&A with Jesus, the disciples ask, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" I used to think that was a dumb question by confused disciples. I was wrong. In his response, Jesus teaches them--and us--what the restoration of Israel's kingdom really looks like.
Cliché preaching may be symptomatic of shallow, consumerist culture, perpetuating a problem rather than the solution.
Resurrection is victory. God shall arise! Christ has risen! However, this is not the sum of the LORD’s provision for the people.
A wonderful intimacy, eternal and beyond our understanding, lies beneath the surface of these words. What is even more wonderful is how this intimacy is also ours. Through the saving work of Jesus, this intimacy is extended unto us.
The point is that the whole lot was wicked. And so were the Galatian Christians. And so are we.