REV. Zachery Sarrault, Associate PASTOR
Pastor’s Corner for April 12-18
Believe!
(John 20:19-31)
Have you ever considered the difference between believing and knowing? Neither one is necessarily easy. To believe something you have to take it at face value. To know something you have to understand it. If I told you I once caught two bass on one lure at the same time, you might not know it to be a true story, but you could believe it was true. You may not understand how it happened due to lack of details or comprehension of the task, but you can believe that it happened because of the credible(ish). Believing and knowing are different and it is good for us to separate the two.
So, when it comes to faith which is more important, believing or knowing? Are we supposed to believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection is true or are we supposed to know that it is true? Is believing or knowing more important when it comes to our relationship with Jesus?
If we are to know that these things are true, then we should be able to explain them. We should be able to understand, intellectually, how the events, miracles, signs, and actions took place. If we know without a doubt that everything is true in the Bible, then people will expect that we have a knowledge about these events that is great enough to explain others into knowing the truth of the Bible. And if this were true, if we could “know our way” into a relationship with Jesus, then certainly everyone would know this truth.
But, if we are to believe the things of God are true, then we don’t have to understand them. We don’t even need to be able to explain them. We don’t need to have a vast knowledge of the events, signs, miracles, and actions of God throughout the Bible. All we need is a belief that they happened and are true, even if we don’t understand them, and that’s the essence of our relationship with Jesus.
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciple, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name.” (John 20:30-31)
This is the purpose of, not just John’s gospel account, but the entirety of Scripture. It is all there to believe in Jesus, that we may know Him (I cautiously use the word) on a relational level, not intellectual. If the Bible existed to prove all these events are true and Jesus does exist, then it does a very poor job. The Bible is simply unknowable! But it is believable, because it takes faith to believe it, which points us to Jesus. To believe is to depend on the Word of another, and not our own ability and there is beautiful freedom in saying, “I believe, even if I don’t know!”
Your unknowing-but-believing 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!