Pentecost was barely over when 3,000 people were baptised in a single day. Out of that explosion, a brand-new kind of community took shape — one that would spread like wildfire through the ancient world and still gather us in Château-d'Œx two thousand years later. What did they actually do that made it work?In this sermon from Acts 2:42-47, Revd. Mark Fletcher draws out six marks of authentic church: baptism, scripture, fellowship, the breaking of bread, prayer, and generosity. The passage isn't just description — it's a model, a statement of what is foundational and what is essential. So how does your own experience of church measure up?We live in a society that has rediscovered that community matters, but we are still hopeless at it — too wedded to our individualism, too quick to hide from God, too anxious about money. Authentic church challenges all of that. It treats the person next to you as family. It loosens your grip on what you own. It calls you back into the presence of God.Are we ready to be that kind of church?Full transcript and video: https://stpeters.ch/sermons/what-makes-authentic-church/
Jesus and his disciples set sail across the Sea of Galilee. A squall comes down. The boat starts taking on water. The experienced fishermen panic. And Jesus — Jesus is asleep.In this sermon from Luke 8:22–25, Revd. Mark Fletcher explores what faith during hard times actually looks like. When the storm breaks around us, why doesn't Jesus step in sooner? Why does he let us feel the danger? Because he is growing something in us that only the storm can grow: resilience, character, faith.We all know what happens in a real crisis. We panic. We stop praying. We lose our heads. We forget the foundational things that keep us on course. But Jesus is in the boat with us, and he is not a tame lion. He was there at creation. He can cope with whatever storm you face.Our prayer probably shouldn't be, "Lord, get me out of this." It should be, "Help me to sail this ship better." Where is your faith?Full transcript and video: https://stpeters.ch/sermons/where-is-your-faith/
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/
