This is an excerpt from Chapter 6 in Sinner Saint: A Surprising Primer to the Christian Life (1517 Publishing, 2025). Sinner Saint is available today from 1517 Publishing.
On its journey from Byzantium to Constantinople to Istanbul, this special place helps us understand the broader arc of Christian history, which goes on until Christ's return.
We needn’t fear statistics and studies as palm readings into a certain future. God is God, and his Spirit is alive through his Word.

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Repentance means to turn or change your mind. It is not a turn from sin to righteousness. It is a turn from sin to the righteous Son of God who has defeated all sin.
Like the women who came despite their questions, your hearers will gather despite their uncertainties, and they will be looking for a word of honest hope.
The truth is we’ve always mixed up the roles of penitent and priest.
As we gather for Palm Sunday, John invites us to simply experience the wonder of Jesus, the Lord of all, who does His work in humility.
James and John come before Jesus and request positions of honor in His coming Kingdom. While we may be surprised at their actions, we understand their desires. They are interested in upward mobility.
Jesus enters this world’s darkness and brings us the life-giving power of God’s light.
At times, our Church struggles with clutter which distracts us from what is most important: Listening to our Lord and gathering at His table where we are fed.
Make no mistake, the life to which Jesus is calling His disciples is radically other than what our world preaches.
The forgiveness of your sins and your reconciliation with God the Father courtesy of Christ’s cross and blood is gifted to you, for you.
Ash Wednesday, is meant to remind us we have a death problem. All living things made from the soil shall return to it.
The season of Lent gives almost unparalleled opportunity for preachers to placard before their auditors the Cross of Christ and beckon Christians to take up their cross and follow Him.
This forty-day season of preparation for Easter is an opportunity for the people of God to rededicate themselves to hearing and responding to Jesus’ call to repent.