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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Somedays we are simply looking for a mark, a rock at the foot of a tree, something to direct us forward, a few words to let us know we are going in the right direction.
The One who has defeated sin, death, and the Devil himself is now living in Heaven and praying for you.
Jesus will suffer, die, and rise again for them. By this love, they are forgiven. By this love, they are made His friends: Friends of God.
Jesus is the vine. You are His branches. And God the Father delights to bring the inside out.
He continues to gather other sheep in, and He does it through the selfless serving and the gracious speaking of His people.
After more than a year of facing our collective mortality as a species, the promise of a physical resurrection is welcome news.
The promise you will make, which brings about the presence of Christ and creates rejoicing, is the peace Jesus brought to the disciples that night behind locked doors.
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.
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.