A week has passed since Easter Sunday. The empty tomb has been declared, the stone rolled away, the story told. But what happened next?In this guest sermon, Revd. Paul Cowley MBE — former soldier, prison chaplain and founder of the Second Chance Partnership — explores three very different encounters with the risen Christ in John 20 and on the road to Emmaus. Fearful disciples hiding behind locked doors. A doubting Thomas who needs to see for himself. Two disappointed travellers walking away from everything they had believed. Three different people. The same Jesus. And each one met exactly where they were.We know those places too. We have our own locked doors, our own honest doubts, our own quiet walks away from hope. Paul's message is that Jesus doesn't wait for us to get our lives together — he steps into the middle of our mess.So the question he leaves us with isn't "did he rise?" It's: where is he meeting me now?Full transcript and video: https://stpeters.ch/sermons/where-is-jesus-now/
On the evening of the first Easter, two ordinary disciples were walking away from Jerusalem. They had heard rumours of an empty tomb, but it wasn't enough. Their hopes had been crushed. What else was there to do but go home?In this Easter sermon on Luke 24:13-35, Revd. Mark Fletcher explores how the risen Christ sought out these despairing travellers — not the important ones, not the inner circle, but two people whose names we barely know. What does it mean that Jesus chooses to meet us on the road, in our doubt and disappointment?Through Scripture, Christ opens their eyes to the bigger picture — that God's purposes go through the storm, the darkness, and even the grave. Then, in the breaking of bread, he reveals himself. Word and sacrament together. Head and heart and soul.Are you walking away? Christ comes down the road to meet you. The question is whether you will invite him to stay.Full transcript and video: https://stpeters.ch/sermons/risen-christ-meets-us/
As pilgrims sang ancient songs of ascent on the road to Jerusalem, something extraordinary happened. The king that the prophets had promised finally arrived — not on a war horse, but on a humble donkey. And the people made their choice: they laid their cloaks in the dust before him.In this Palm Sunday sermon from Luke 19:28-40, Revd. Mark Fletcher unpacks the rich symbolism of Jesus' triumphal entry. Why did Jesus choreograph this moment so carefully after years of avoiding the public eye? And what does it mean that he chose a donkey — in a city that has seen more bloodshed than any other place on earth?We all serve something. We all bow the knee to someone. The kingdoms of this world demand so much and deliver so little. But here is a king who doesn't demand — he invites. He asks us to lay down our status, our pride, and choose a better kingdom.Will you bow the knee to this gentle king?Full transcript and video: https://stpeters.ch/sermons/triumphal-entry-choosing-the-humble-king/
For all the marvels of modern technology, something in our modern lifestyle distances us from one another. There is a crisis of loneliness in the Western world — and it's nothing new. Two thousand years ago, Zacchaeus was the richest man in Jericho and the most isolated.In this sermon from Luke 19:1–10, Revd. Mark Fletcher explores how Jesus saw past the wealth and the reputation to the lost soul hiding behind it all. When Jesus invited himself to dinner with the town's most hated man, he demonstrated something radical: grace precedes repentance. Acceptance comes first, and that is what brings the change.We all have our gilded prisons — the things we think will make us happy but end up leaving us alone. We all hide behind masks. And we all have categories of people we think are beyond the reach of the gospel. But as Mother Teresa said, "Loneliness is the most terrible poverty."The good news? No matter how lost you are, Jesus will come searching for you. Are you ready to come down from your tree?Full transcript and video: https://stpeters.ch/sermons/crisis-of-loneliness/
