Sanctuary Columbus Sermons

The Life-Giving Authority of Jesus

May 17, 2026 "The Life-Giving Authority of Jesus" - Pastor Micah Morgan What do you actually expect when you come to Jesus? Do you expect anger? Force? A God who is waiting to catch you doing something wrong? Or do you expect life? Because what you expect of Jesus shapes everything — how you feel, how you think, and how you love. In this message, Pastor Micah Morgan takes us into John chapter 5, where Jesus makes three of the most scandalous claims in all of Scripture — that he shares substance with God, that rejecting his authority is rejecting the Father's authority, and that his power is the very source of life itself. And in doing so, Jesus doesn't just tell us who he is. He tells us what kind of God we actually have. Not coercive. Not domineering. Not waiting to punish. But scandalously, relentlessly, kenot­ically love-motivated. In this message you'll learn: The 3 bold claims Jesus makes about his authority in John 5 — and why they were so scandalous to his Jewish audience What the word "kenosis" means — and why it might completely change how you imagine God Why the way we expect God to show up directly shapes our anxiety, our relationships, and our emotional health What a national study of 1,600 Americans revealed about the connection between our image of God and our psychological wellbeing Why Jesus promises that submitting to his authority should produce joy and flourishing — not just obligation Whether you grew up with an image of God as angry and punishing, or you've simply never thought carefully about what you expect of Jesus, this message is an invitation to let the character of Jesus reshape everything you believe about who God is and how God moves. 📖 Scripture: John 5:19-24, 37-40 | John 14:9-12 | Philippians 2 🏠 Visit us at sanctuarycolumbus.com 📍 4142 Westerville Road, Columbus, OH 43224 📲 Follow us https://www.facebook.com/sanctuarycolumbus https://www.instagram.com/sanctuarycbus/ https://www.youtube.com/@SanctuaryColumbusChurch

Do You Want to Be Well?

May 10, 2026 "Do You Want to Be Well?" - Nancy Dumford A broken princess wand. A little girl's tears. And a grandmother with a hot glue gun doing her best to hold it all together. Sound familiar? Because if we're honest, most of us spend more time hot-gluing our lives back together than we do actually pursuing wholeness. We cope. We manage. We keep the game of pretend going. Until Jesus shows up and asks the most disruptive, most personal, most hopeful question in all of Scripture: Do you want to be well? In this message, Nancy Dumford takes us through two powerful healing stories in the Gospel of John — a royal official whose son is dying and a man who has been lying beside a healing pool for 38 years — and draws out three movements that are as relevant today as they were then. In this message you'll learn: The difference between quick relief and true wholeness — and why Jesus is always after the latter Why Jesus's question "Do you want to be well?" might sound hopeful, exhausting, offensive, or impossible depending on where you are today What it means that wellness requires our participation — and what that actually looks like in practice How your healing journey becomes a sign that points others toward Jesus Why you were beloved before you were ever broken — and what that changes about how we carry our pain Whether you are lying beside the pool with a familiar story of why you're stuck, or you're in the middle of a transition that has you doubting everything, this message is an invitation to stop hot-gluing your life back together and say yes to the journey of wholeness Jesus is offering. 📖 Scripture: John 4:46-54 | John 5:1-9 🏠 Visit us at sanctuarycolumbus.com 📍 4142 Westerville Road, Columbus, OH 43224 📲 Follow us https://www.facebook.com/sanctuarycolumbus https://www.instagram.com/sanctuarycbus/ https://www.youtube.com/@SanctuaryColumbusChurch

The Woman at the Well

May 3, 2026 "The Woman at the Well" - Pastor Rich Johnson She wasn't supposed to be there. And Jesus wasn't supposed to talk to her. But he went out of his way — through a place no self-respecting Jewish man would travel — just to meet her at a well at noon. And what happened next changed everything. In this message, Pastor Rich Johnson takes us into the longest one-on-one conversation Jesus has with anyone in the entire Gospel of John — and challenges everything we think we know about the woman at the well. She wasn't scandalous. She wasn't a cautionary tale. She was lost. And Jesus saw her — all of her — and stepped toward her anyway. Read alongside John 3 and the story of Nicodemus, this passage shows us something John wants us to feel in our bones: the grace of God has no limits. Not for the religious. Not for the irreligious. Not for the educated or the uneducated. Not for the chosen or the rejected. Jesus goes out of his way for all of them. In this message you'll learn: Why John 3 and John 4 must be read together — and what the contrast between Nicodemus and the woman at the well reveals about God's grace Why Jesus had to go through Samaria — and what that says about divine appointments in your own life The truth about the woman's five husbands that most preachers get wrong What it means that Jesus revealed himself as Messiah — for the very first time — to a Samaritan woman What jar you might need to leave behind at the well today Whether your faith journey looks like Nicodemus — slow, quiet, and full of wrestling — or like the woman at the well — unexpected, unplanned, and completely disorienting — this message is a reminder that Jesus steps toward you. Every single time. 📖 Scripture: John 4:4-10, 25-30 | Galatians 3:28 | Exodus 3 🏠 Visit us at sanctuarycolumbus.com 📍 4142 Westerville Road, Columbus, OH 43224 📲 Follow us https://www.facebook.com/sanctuarycolumbus https://www.instagram.com/sanctuarycbus/ https://www.youtube.com/@SanctuaryColumbusChurch

Nic at Night

April 26, 2026 "Nic at Night" - Pastor Rich Johnson He had every credential. Every answer. Every religious box checked. And yet something kept him up at night — restless, questioning, unsettled — until he finally decided to go find Jesus himself. Nicodemus wasn't a skeptic. He was the most religious man in the room. And that's exactly what made his encounter with Jesus so disorienting. In this message, Pastor Rich Johnson takes us into one of the most famous conversations in all of Scripture — and challenges us to see it with completely fresh eyes. Because this isn't just Nicodemus's story. It's the story of anyone who has ever trusted more in their religion than in an actual encounter with Jesus. Anyone whose faith has stopped surprising them. Anyone who is still bringing their questions everywhere except directly to the source. In this message you'll learn: Why the most religious people are often the hardest to reach with the gospel What Jesus actually meant by "born again" — and why the Western church may have gotten it wrong Why Nicodemus came to Jesus at night — and what that says about the questions we're too afraid to ask in public The 6 core longings underneath every question we bring to God Why John 3:17 may be the most important verse you've never memorized What the slow work of God actually looks like in a person's life — and what eventually happened to Nicodemus Whether you've been following Jesus for decades or you're still sneaking up to him at night with questions you're not sure are allowed, this message is for you. Because Jesus isn't waiting for you to have it all figured out. He's ready to meet you right where you are. 📖 Scripture: John 3:1-8, 16-21 🏠 Visit us at sanctuarycolumbus.com 📍 4142 Westerville Road, Columbus, OH 43224 📲 Follow us https://www.facebook.com/sanctuarycolumbus https://www.instagram.com/sanctuarycbus/ https://www.youtube.com/@SanctuaryColumbusChurch

Discipled by What Detours Jesus

April 19, 2026 "Discipled by What Detours Jesus" - Pastor Rich Johnson You can tell a lot about a person by what distracts them. What grabs their attention when they're focused on something else. What makes them stop, change course, and pay a cost they didn't plan to pay. In this message, Pastor Micah Morgan takes us into John chapter 2 — and instead of focusing on what Jesus did, asks us to pay attention to what detoured him. From a wedding running out of wine to money changers blocking the vulnerable from accessing God, we watch Jesus get pulled off his own agenda twice. And in both moments, we learn something profound about what it means to actually follow him. Because following Jesus isn't just about going where he's going. It's about being detoured by the same things that detour him. In this message you'll learn: What the two detours in John 2 reveal about what Jesus actually cares about Why running out of wine at a wedding was more than an embarrassment — and why Jesus stepped in anyway What the money changers in the temple were really doing to the most vulnerable members of the community The Hebrew concept of "tzedakah u'mishpat" — and why social justice is at the very heart of what it means to follow God Why being willing to be detoured for others always comes with a cost — and how to honestly count that cost Whether you're someone who wants to serve but doesn't know where to start, or someone who is burned out from giving too much, this message will challenge and encourage you to pay attention to who around you is being kept from what they deserve — and ask Jesus what your next step might be. 📖 Scripture: John 2:7-17 | Genesis 18:19 🏠 Visit us at sanctuarycolumbus.com 📍 4142 Westerville Road, Columbus, OH 43224 📲 Follow us https://www.facebook.com/sanctuarycolumbus https://www.instagram.com/sanctuarycbus/ https://www.youtube.com/@SanctuaryColumbusChurch