Sanctus Church Video Sermons

Dealing with False Teachers

The world is a confusing place. From propaganda to censorship, the truth is constantly under threat — including inside the church. False teaching is like a landmine; it’s subtle, dangerous, and difficult to remove. With time running out, Paul outlines how to detect and confront false teaching without losing sight of the objective. The goal isn’t to win an argument; it’s to see salvation.

How to Endure Hardship

Trials forge our faith. When difficulties arise, Paul encourages us to ground ourselves in the faithfulness of Jesus. Even when we struggle with doubt, Jesus remains faithful to us. That's the secret — it's not about you. The strength to endure comes from the One who has already defeated death.

Suffering for the Gospel

From the series "2 Timothy: The Good Fight". Facing imminent death, Paul encourages Timothy to join him in suffering for the gospel. Is this the selfish desire of a lonely prisoner? Or is there a deeper meaning to the suffering that leads us into more security and strength than we can even imagine?

The Power to Persevere

From the series "2 Timothy: The Good Fight". As crises mount, one thing becomes clear: we can’t do it alone. Imprisoned and awaiting execution, Paul writes a letter to Timothy about the power of the gospel and the cost of discipleship. If we’re going to live on mission, we need to understand where our power comes from.

Fully Devoted: Discipleship at Sanctus Church

What does Sanctus Church believe about discipleship? What does it look like to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus in the middle of a pandemic? In the midst of disruptions, there are always opportunities for growth and impact.

Vision Sunday

Let’s take a moment to celebrate the past and cast vision for the future. This is a conversation about how we, as fully devoted followers of Jesus, may continue building for the future with hopeful anticipation because we trust that our God is with us and for us. Our strategies may change, but God’s promises for our church and region remain the same.

Following God into the Unknown

In times of uncertainty, we tend to use our lack of foresight as an excuse for inaction or disobedience. What if there’s an alternative way forward? God uses seemingly impossible situations to help us see our need for Him. The invitation isn’t to certainty, but to trust. 

The King Above All Gods

There’s always a battle before the victory. Just as Moses and Aaron partnered with God to liberate Israel from slavery, we too must follow God and trust that He’ll provide a way forward regardless of who or what we face.

Commissioned for Boldness

How do we live with faith, courage, and freedom? You are commissioned to live out the gospel in the middle of suffering. This boldness has nothing to do with personality, and everything to do with God.

Welcome to the Family

Is Jesus really our brother? Many of us know Jesus as Saviour, Shepherd, Lord, King—but when's the last time you thought about the Son of God as your sibling? Understanding our relationship to Jesus after we're adopted into the family of God impacts how we see ourselves and our purpose.

Set Free to Love Freely

Jesus came to set you free from sin and death so that you may experience the fullness of life—both now and forever. Recognizing the significance of this freedom helps us cultivate gratitude that fuels our ability to love freely in the face of any challenge.

Risking Your Destiny

We all want to achieve our full potential, but what if the cultural vision for your life can’t get you to where you actually want to go? God offers an alternative path, but following Jesus will cost you the compromise of comfort. 

As followers of Jesus, we are called to be people of his presence that help bring God’s kingdom into the present. It's a calling that changes how we view ourselves and everything we do in this life.

Live What You Believe

To know who you are, you must know who you're not. The truth depends on distinctions—and knowing our limitations leads us into a deeper relationship with the only One who is capable of helping us become everything we're meant to be. It's time for us to live what we believe.

Reflect What You've Received

How you define yourself matters. Our beliefs influence our behaviour—and the story of Ruth exemplifies how God weaves our decisions and actions into his unfolding plan of redemption. Simply put, God redeemed you for a reason: to reflect the lovingkindness that you first received. So ask yourself: am I ready to impact the world by living as a child of God?

Friend of God

God wants to connect with you on a deeper level—so much so that He calls you His friend. The heart of friendship is to know the heart of the one who befriends you. God wants to transform your heart by revealing his own, but great friendships take time and effort. Learn how investing in this one relationship will transform how you relate to everything and everyone else—including yourself.

The Fruit of Favour

What does it mean to be favoured by God? There's a significant difference between the favour we achieve through our own efforts and the favour we receive as a gift from God. One provides an edge, the other develops our character. God's favour is always about the bigger picture—are you ready to trust him during the process?

Found and Formed Through Faith

Where do you find your identity? Many of us root our sense of self and sense of worth in what we own, what we do, and what others say about us—yet the Gospel reveals that our identity is based on what's already been done through Jesus.

Who will we trust?

God's inviting you to join the family—but this identity must be received, not achieved. 

Celebration & Rest

Celebration and rest are essential aspects of one's spiritual life. They produce a divine joy that fuels everything else we are called to do as believers. So how do we celebrate and rest in the midst of pain, suffering, and urgency?

Service

Serve others: easy to say, hard to do—especially when it comes at a personal cost. Jesus calls us to actively will the good of others, including those who we'd rather ignore (or perhaps even harm). This is radical love. This is reconciliation. This is the way through which the Kingdom of God flips our cultural models upside-down and begins to emerge in the here and now.

We weren't created and saved to sit on the sidelines. It's time for us to love boldly and find Jesus at the middle of it all.

Simplicity & Sacrifice

Are you paying attention to what really matters? Nothing is more valuable than our personal time and attention, and yet we rarely create space to ask ourselves whether our choices are leading us into deeper relationship with God.

In a culture obsessed with complexity and accumulation, Jesus calls us to practice simplicity and sacrifice. Why? Because these disciplines, when done as acts of worship, lead us to the One who is able to free us from the tireless cycle of never feeling like we have (or are) enough.

Racism, Reconciliation, and The Gospel

Chris Chase and Cheryl Nembhard join Pastor Jon Thompson for an honest conversation about the reality of racism, the hope of reconciliation, and the role of the Gospel in our pursuit of justice.

Study

What is the Bible? How do we engage with this strange and ancient collection of writings today?

The Bible reveals the ultimate story of reality—one that weaves our personal stories into a grand narrative that leads to Jesus.

As is often the case with Jesus, this is about both the head and the heart.

Chastity

Why does God care about what I do with my body? Come learn how our sexuality relates to discipleship—and how Jesus wants to help us discover a whole new way to be human in what he calls "The Kingdom of God".

This is a conversation about relationship and trust. Will you accept that Jesus knows what's best for our hearts and bodies?

Fasting & Secrecy

Fasting might be the most abused and neglected spiritual practice—yet Jesus expected his followers to fast regularly. When it comes to spiritual disciplines, our motives determine the fruit. Join us as we explore how fasting, when rightly practiced, leads to freedom and transformation.

Solitude & Silence

How often do you spend time in the quiet alone with God?

Solitude and silence were at the heart of Jesus' life and ministry. He often withdrew to the "lonely place" before engaging with the crowds and challenges that lay before him. If we treat Jesus as our model, learning how to minimize the noise and increase our attentiveness to God may be the secret to thriving within the chaos of our modern age.

Confession

Confession is an integral part of our walk with Jesus. It's through the practice of confession that we move out of our hiddenness and into God's inexhaustible grace and mercy. Simply put, confession leads to true freedom—so how do we do it?

Prayer

“To pray is to accept that we are, and always will be, wholly dependent on God for everything.”

—Timothy Keller

 

How do we talk to God? The disciples asked Jesus this very question; He answered by giving them the Lord’s Prayer. Using this ancient prayer as our framework, join us as we learn how to converse with the Father today.

An Introduction to Spiritual Practices

To become like Jesus, we must spend time with Jesus. We do this through spiritual practices.

If spiritual gifts are a guaranteed place of power, spiritual practices are a guaranteed place of transformation. They lead us into the presence of God after we’ve encountered him through Jesus so that he may transform us from the inside out.

 

Speaker: Jon Thompson
Series: Spiritual Practices: The Holy Habits of Faith

Easter Sunday: On the Road to Emmaus

"Many of us have at times walked the Emmaus road, wondering where God is...when all along He walks beside us." — Randy Alcorn

Jesus is risen. He is alive. He defeated death, rescuing us from the consequences of our sin, forging a way for the lost to be found.

The resurrection of Jesus is the point at which the history of the world turns. No longer are we destined to travel alone. Jesus meets us on our journey. Through your pain and doubt, wrestling and wandering, he walks beside you—patiently waiting for you to open your heart and see that the Living God is ready to welcome you home.

Speaker: Jon Thompson
Series: Lost & Found

Good Friday

The idea of death haunts most of humanity. And understandably so—if we imagine a future without Jesus.

Jesus' death defeated the reign of darkness. The finality of death was replaced with a semi-colon. For believers, we are freed from the suffocating weight of death's empty threats of loneliness and isolation. Jesus has found us. His death has made a way for the lost to come home.

As we mourn and reflect this Good Friday, may we take heaven's perspective on the matter: this was not a mistake; it was the start of a revolution.

It is finished—but it's not over.

Speaker: Jon Thompson
Series: Lost & Found

Friend of Sinners

Crisis exposes us. When our normal routines are disrupted, we realize the limitations of money, sex, and power. At some point, we are forced to confront the jarring truth that we are fragile, flawed, and unable to save ourselves—that we need something, or someone, greater than what the world has to offer.

Jesus is that someone. He calls us home, not because of who we are or what we have done, but because of who he is and what he’s already finished. 

Speaker: Jon Thompson
Series: Lost & Found

The Good Samaritan

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Jesus made some shocking claims; statements that only make sense if we accept his identity as God in the flesh. 

As a teacher, Jesus used parables to reveal truths about God’s character and humanity’s condition. He told stories—like the one about the Good Samaritan—that forced his audience to ponder deeply personal questions: Who am I in the story? Who are my neighbours? Am I willing to not only accept God’s love, but express it to the world?

Our answers determine how we live. How do you respond?

Speaker: Jon Thompson
Series: Lost & Found

Living Hope

How do we lead a life marked by faith and hope in a world plagued with fear and uncertainty? Now, more than ever, we need to rest and ground our daily rhythms in our Living Hope: Jesus.

Speaker: Jon Thompson

Heaven, the Radical Hope

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” — John 14:1.

In the face of trouble, Jesus comforts his followers by asking us to trust him with all things—including our beliefs about heaven. 

According to Jesus, understanding the nature and promise of heaven leads to radical hope. When we correct our misconceptions about “going to heaven”, we discover a more powerful and profound hope, one that empowers us to lead counter-cultural lives marked by love and joy irrespective of our circumstances. 

Heaven is more about the person than the place—and it starts with us.

 

Speaker: Jon Thompson

Series: The Great Divide

Hell, the Great Divorce

The doctrine of hell is one of the most difficult aspects of Christian faith for many people—so why should we talk about it? The famed theologian J. I. Packer gives us three reasons:

1. The idea of hell is being debated and debunked frivolously in modern culture;
2. There is no such thing as the “Good News” without the other side; and
3. Jesus talked about it—a lot.

Speaker: Jon Thompson
Series: The Great Divide

Jesus, the Coming Judge

“So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” – Matthew 22:44.

Jesus made several things clear through his teachings: judgment is real, we will all give an account, and he is the judge.

Your view about how the world will end directly affects how you live on earth today. God’s judgment satisfies our need for justice in the world—but we must be careful not to separate it from another part of God’s character: his grace.

Jesus is the risen the judge—and forgiver. The heart of the gospel is the supreme truth that God accepts us with no conditions when we put our trust in Jesus. As N.T Wright puts it, “In the word of the risen Jesus, we find judgment and forgiveness coming home at the deepest and most personal level.”

In the end, everyone will come face-to-face with God. The only question is whether we face him alone, or covered by grace alone.

Speaker: Jon Thompson
Series: The Great Divide: Death and Destiny

The Gospel of Grace

God extends mercy to the merciless, leaving Jonah in a heart storm. How can God be perfectly just and perfectly loving at once? 

God is a complex character who makes sense only through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Moses wasn’t allowed to see it. Jonah wasn’t able to discern it. Thankfully, we don’t stand where they stood. 

The book of Jonah forces us to contemplate our personal destiny. How will we respond to God’s word, world, and grace?

 

Speaker: Jon Thompson

Series: Jonah

The Road to Revival

"Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” Jonah preaches wrath—but God responds with mercy.

Above all else, the book of Jonah is about reconciliation. It demonstrates the fact that God’s wrath and mercy are held in tension—and that the road to revival, while available to all, requires genuine repentance.

If there are innumerable steps between us and God, he will take all but one. The choice is ours.

Speaker: Jon Thompson

Series: Jonah - The Mystery of Mercy

Perfect Plans, Imperfect People

 God keeps his promises. Despite Jonah’s rebellion, God rescues his prodigal prophet from the jaws of death. Jonah cries to the Lord for help, and God answers him. 

Nothing can separate us from God’s love and mercy; he is not limited by our shortcomings. In fact, we see yet again that God uses imperfect people to achieve his perfect plans.

Speaker - Jon Thompson

Series - Jonah: The Mystery of Mercy 

Anyone but Them

Jonah: The Mystery of Mercy

Speaker: Jon Thompson

Scripture: Jonah 1

Love your enemies. Jonah receives a mission from God that leaves him struggling with a question our world continues to wrestle with today: how God can be both merciful and just?

Obedience will require sacrifice. For Jonah, the cost seems too high. He refuses and runs—but God’s mercy prevails.

The Meaning of Marriage

Together: A Series on Marriage & Community

Speaker: Angela Mason

Beliefs are powerful. They influence our behaviour, set our expectations, and define what we think is possible. 

So what do we believe about marriage? Or more importantly, what does God have to say about the matter?

The Scriptures paint a picture of marriage infused with meaning and power. God invites us to be filled with the Spirit so that our marriages lead us and the world into a deeper knowledge of the Gospel. 

Sound difficult? Thankfully, God doesn’t expect us to do it on our own. He is our ever-present Helper, always inviting us to find freedom and power in all areas of life—including marriage.

A Conversation with Nicky and Sila Lee

The Founders of The Marriage Course join Pastor Jon for a conversation about their mission to save marriages.

The Marriage Course is a series of seven sessions, designed to help couples invest in their relationship and build a strong marriage. Visit www.themarriagecourses.ca for more information.

The Discipline of Love

Together: A Series on Marriage & Community 

Speaker: Dave Adams

Marriage matters. Since the very beginning, God has intended for it to serve as the blueprint for male-female relationships.

It holds a special place in the human story—so why does it seem to be so difficult and confusing?Many voices have weighed in on the topic—some good, others bad. The Scriptures have a way of cutting through the noise.Using the story of Hosea as a touchstone, we focus in on the power of choice, the influence of beliefs, and God’s heart for marriage.

Fully Devoted: 2020

Speakers: Jon Thompson & Dave Adams

Scripture: Nehemiah 4

Description: Twice a year at Sanctus Church, we stop to recap where we've been and where we're going. It's a chance for us to celebrate what God has done among us, building faith to move forward.

Christmas at Sanctus: Light of the World - The Holy Spirit

Speaker: Dave Adams

Scripture: Luke 2

Sermon Description: 

In preparation for the new year, we turn our attention toward the story of Simeon—which doesn't receive much attention since it appears in the Christmas story after the "big day". Simeon's life demonstrates what it looks like to walk by the Spirit as we:

• Wait. How do you wait with purpose and patience for God's promise to come true?
• Act. How do you remain ready and move when the Holy Spirit prompts you? and
• Respond. How do you respond when God reveals his faithfulness?

Simeon shows us a better way forward. As we prepare to enter this new decade, let's follow Simeon's example and invite the Holy Spirit into the whole process—and walk with God throughout the entire journey.

Christmas at Sanctus: Light of the World - The Father

Speaker: Jon Thompson

Scripture: Genesis 2, Revelation 21, Colossians 1

Sermon Description: 

 When we look up at the stars, we can’t help but feel a sense of wonder. The cosmos were designed to reveal God’s glory—to point us back to the Creator of it all.

Yet God is more than just the author of light. He is light. What does this reveal about His nature and character?

When we circle back to the beginning, we see how the stories of both Creation and Christmas reveal the goodness of God's heart.

It's there from the start: eternal and unwavering holiness. In Jesus, we see what happens when the light of the world invades the darkness. His life, death, and resurrection destroyed darkness and replaced it with everlasting light. From throne to cradle, God entered our story so that we may have salvation and eternal life.

This light now shines in our hearts. The Holy Spirit empowers us live out a story of re-creation and victory. By walking in and with the light, we become children of light—and glorify the Father by showing the world what it looks like to finally see.

Galatians - Week ELEVEN

Speaker: Jon Thompson

Scripture: Galatians 6

Summary:Welcome to the eleventh and final week in our series on the book of Galatians. To conclude this incredible journey, we turn our attention to Paul's highly practical conclusion.

Paul demonstrates his wisdom by translating knowledge into action; he preemptively answers the most likely question in the minds of his audience at this point: Now what?

Paul crafts a series of verses to explain not only what Gospel freedom look like in action, but how we maintain our freedom in the real world while continuing to build our lives on the firm foundation that true freedom comes from a promise, not performance—and Jesus is the promised one.

God set us free for a reason. Let's find out what it really means to be a new creation.

Galatians - Week TEN

Speaker: Joel Penney

Scripture: Galatians 5:16-26

Summary: 

Welcome to Week Ten in our series on Galatians.

There is a war inside each of us between the Spirit and our sinful nature. The Spirit wants us to be more like Christ and our flesh wants us back into slavery. According to Paul, to win this battle we must choose, every day, to be led by the Spirit.

The way of the flesh (world) is a trap: living your own way looks like freedom, but it’s a lie. It’s actually slavery. Paul provides us with a hopeful list of all that we can experience when we choose a life in the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Galatians - Week NINE

Speaker: Ben Hilson 

Scripture: Galatians 5:1-15

Welcome to Week Nine in our series out of the book of Galatians.Paul opens Chapter 5 by driving home the central thesis of his letter to the Galatians: Freedom is at the core of the Gospel.

We tend to insert ourselves into the grace equation. Our western culture emphasizes personal performance and achievement, so it's natural for us to let this mode of thinking distort the nature of the Gospel. Paul corrects this error by reminding us that neither religion nor irreligion have any power to establish us in relationship with God. Faith in Jesus is the only thing that counts.

Inviting the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts with this truth enable us to love others with the proper motivation. When we internalize the fact that our freedom is not dependent on our works, we free ourselves from fear—and in turn move from self-obsession to selfless loving. 

Galatians - Week EIGHT:

Speaker: Jon Thompson

Scriptures: Galatians 4:21-28

Sermon Description:

Welcome to Week Eight in our series out of the book of Galatians. Are we truly trusting in God’s promise or are we more committed to our performance?

In these verses, Paul uses the story of Issac and Ishmael to further illustrate his point. Both Isaac and Ishmael are sons of Abraham, but with two completely different destinies. One is a slave and one is free, one is born out of normal, natural everyday means while the other was the impossible becoming possible.

We, too must learn to trust in the promise and not on our own performance.