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/