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 are saved by grace, and strictly speaking, not by an offer.
I love studying books on productivity and efficiency. I have a big family, and I have little people who depend on me and actually expect to eat every day.
We are caught up in a battle between two kings and two kingdoms. And, whether we like it or not, we are ruled by one king or the other.
As I write this, I wonder if perhaps I am stretching things a bit thinking that it would be relevant to a considerably more sophisticated audience. Perhaps we already know the Gospel, that we are all sinners.
I visited a senior man at his home the other day. I'll refer to him as “Jim.”
A part of our series on Luther's, Heidelberg Disputation.
We’re going to take a little bit of time going through John’s description of the resurrected and exalted Jesus and its significance.
The Christian sees himself or herself as one just as guilty as the rest of the world. But we see ourselves not just as what’s wrong with the world, but in the One by whom the world has been redeemed.
Would you go to the church on the corner knowing that the pastor is an ex-con?
We try believing in more abstract concepts: justice, happiness, and self-improvement, only to find that we can never truly grasp which standards should be accepted and which should be rejected.
This a part of our series on Luther's, Heidelberg Disputation
This a part of our series on Luther's, Heidelberg Disputation