REV. Zachery Sarrault, Associate PASTOR
Pastor’s Corner for January 26-February 1, 2025
Be with God
(Nehemiah 8:1-10)
If Jesus asked to take you out for lunch, would you take Him up on the offer? I’m willing to bet most of us would! I know it’s a silly question, but it can be fun to ponder. Where would you take Him to eat (let’s assume He’s paying!)? What would you want to talk with Him about? Would you sit and listen or throw every imaginable question His way? Would you take Him to a public place, so everyone could see you with the Savior of the world, or would you chose a quiet little bistro with no distractions? Would you take time planning your outfit or rush out of the house in a frantic hurry of excitement? Would you hesitate, wondering if His invitation was really meant for you?
Someday, we will get to sit around a table and actually, physically, talk with Jesus. And not just Jesus, but talk with all the saints, from Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to Moses, to Mary and Joseph, Peter and Paul, to all the unnamed saints of God that He has written in His Book of Life! Someday, we will be gathered together in the unimaginable beauty of the Kingdom of God and hear untold stories, sing unsung songs, and live in the eternally joyful presence of our loving God. What a glorious day that will be!
So why wait? Why wait to hear the stories? Why wait to sing the songs? Why wait to listen to the Savior of the world? Why wait to be with God?
God wants to be with you now, not just on the Last Day when we are all gathered together in our eternal home. God knows that we need His presence. We need to hear from Him and see Him at work in our lives, so He gives us a way to be with Him. The same way that He has revealed Himself to His people since the beginning. He gives us His Word.
It was that Word that the people of God gathered around to become one people (Nehemiah 8:1). It was the Word of God that is the “joy of the Lord” that strengthens our hearts (Nehemiah 8:10). It is the Word of God that shows us God because the Word is God and God is the Word. There is no other written word that holds such power. Sure, there are other words that move our emotions and gather us with other people, but no other word can stir our souls and show us the God of the universe, the risen Savior of the world. There is no other word that can speak the miracle of forgiveness and life into our hearts. There is no other word that can raise the dead.
Don’t wait for eternity to be with God. Pick up your Bible and be with God now. Start anywhere in the Bible. Start at Genesis or Matthew. Read the Psalms or Paul’s letters. Read the histories of the Old Testament or the prophets. Start anywhere you are drawn to but simply start. Read the Word, be with God, and see Him work!
Your reading brother in Christ,
Pastor Zach Sarrault
Ordination and Installation of Pastor Zachery Sarrault (July 18, 2021):
Sunday was a great day at RLC! We celebrated the Ordination and Installation of our new Associate Pastor Zachery Sarrault. It was a beautiful service with a heartfelt sermon by his father, Pastor Joel Sarrault. Congratulations and welcome, Pastor Zach! Thank you to all who participated in this special day.
Pastor Sarrault Ordination and Installation
Pastor Zachery Sarrault Ordination and Installation Bulletin
From Pastor Zach (July 16, 2021):
Hey Resurrection Family!
Kelsey and I are finally here! We have finished up at St. Louis, seen family in Michigan, and moved into our new home. After all of that traveling and living out of suitcases, we couldn’t be happier to finally be back to something comfortable. Comfort is always something nice to hold on to. All of us have something that makes us comfortable, whether it be a family member or friend, a good book or fishing pole, a quilting machine or a wood shed, we all have our go-to comfort places. This is part of being human! We love comfort!
The thing with comfort is that sometimes we get too comfortable. We can settle in and tell ourselves that we never wish to see any change. “Life would be perfect if I could just stay in my recliner with Tom Sawyer all day.” Or whatever your comfort may be. Sadly, we know that this isn’t how life works. No matter how much we enjoy our comforts, ‘real life’ happens and it disrupts those little joys. But, is it ‘real life’ or is it God, calling us into His mission to do more than just the comfortable?
Jesus never led a life of comfort. From the manger to the cross and even the empty tomb, Jesus’ life was one of challenge and the uncomfortable. When one of the scribes declared that he would follow Jesus, all Jesus had to say was, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20). Kind of an odd response, one that rightly scared away the scribe. Probably would have scared me too!
So, what does this mean for us? Are we supposed to throw away all of our earthly comforts and live lives of asceticism? Not at all! But we are called to know where these comforts come from and who our ultimate comfort is. In all things, comfort or challenge, our Lord and Savior stands before us, behind us, and beside us. As Jesus prepared His disciples for life after His death and resurrection, Jesus told His followers, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
There is our ultimate comfort! Not in our little hide-a-ways or indulgences, but in the One who has overcome all sin and who has promised us peace. Our comfort is in the faith that we have through Christ’s death and resurrection. Our comfort is in the kingdom of God that has already been given to us! That is a comfort that is never changing and never ending. No matter what God has in store the Sarraults in North Carolina, we know that the comfort of our Lord will always prevail!
In the comfortable and the uncomfortable, but always in Christ,
Pastor Zach Sarrault
From Pastor Jonathan (July 15, 2021):
There's a new face at Resurrection! Seminarian Zach Sarrault and wife Kelsey made it down to Cary last Monday, and soon-to-be "Pastor Zach" is already taking part in leadership team activities here at RLC. He will serve as Associate Pastor at Resurrection... meaning he will be working full-time in all aspects of ministry: preaching and teaching, visiting the homebound, discipling others, showing up at youth events, leading school and preschool chapel services, making friends in his neighborhood, evangelizing... and doing it all as one who is privileged to be an Under-Shepherd of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. We are very blessed to have him and Kelsey in our midst!
Though the Sarraults hail from Michigan they know a little bit about our area already since Zach served as Vicar at Hope Lutheran Church in Wake Forest from 2019 to 2020. At church you can find Pastor Zach in the Associate Pastor's office, next door to the main office on the left side. I look forward to working with Pastor Zach and seeing him welcomed as warmly by all of you as Juli and I were not so long ago! May God bless and further your ministry among us, Pastor!