REV. Zachery Sarrault, Associate PASTOR
Pastor’s Corner for March 15-21
Walk in the Light
(Ephesians 5:8-14)
Walking around in a dark house can be a hazard. You’re liable to run into a wall or stub your toe or step on the dog. Even if it’s a house that you’ve lived in for years and know really well, you never know if the kids left something on the floor or there might be a small spill on the floor that you didn’t clean up or, again, the dog. Even with all these hazards from walking in a dark house, we still do it anyway. We are confident in what we know. We don’t expect there to be any changes. We don’t want the light to blind us and wake us up when we’re walking around in the middle of the night.
We can do the same thing with God. “At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). We don’t belong to the darkness anymore, but we still find ourselves walking around in the darkness of the world. We don’t follow the light of Christ as He wants us to. We refuse to turn on the light because we think we can walk around in this world just fine without the light. We think we know our own way, we don’t expect any changes in the daily routine, we don’t expect anything to come up underfoot, and then it happens. The shocking phone call, the hurtful word, the backsliding of addiction, the loss of a friend, the headline we weren’t expecting it and it comes up from underneath to trip us and down we fall with a heavy crash.
It comes from thinking we are ok. I’m doing just fine on my own and I know God is there when I need Him, so until then I’ll keep fumbling around. While this may be our thought, whether we admit it or not, God is right there in the light, pleading with us to stand in His light. We are created in His image and are people yearning for the light yet falling for the darkness. In baptism, we are born again as children of the light, yet that darkness sounds so good sometimes. God’s call is always the same, “come walk in the light.”
To walk in the light isn’t just to follow God’s commands. That’s part of it, but if that is our sole goal (or even our first goal), we will always fail and find our running into walls in the darkness. To walk in the light is to walk with God. How do we walk with God? Through prayer, regular Bible reading, Christian fellowship, weekly church attendance. Being in the places that God has promised to be. You are children of the Light, live in the beautiful gift of the Life-filled-Light that God has for you.
Your walking 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!