REV. Zachery Sarrault, Associate PASTOR
Pastor’s Corner for December 28-January 3
“Abba! Father!”
(Galatians 4:4-7)
The post-Christmas season can be a little bit of a drag. Everything starts to empty out. Slowly, but surely, Christmas lights get taken down, family and friends go home or don’t call as much, presents that were once new and exciting become old and mundane, and the Christmas tree and decorations are removed. Our homes, neighborhoods, and even our church go back to looking normal. All of this can make us a feel a little empty, as if God’s work at Christmas really was just a celebration, something that only happens once a year and then that’s it. As we trudge back into, what can seem empty to some but certainly routine for many, normal life, it can be easy to forget what the celebration was all about.
But the promise is still true, and God is still working! If the promise is true and God is still working, then we are far from empty, instead we are full of God and His work in us, for us, and through us. The promise is still true that our God is and always will be Immanuel, He is God with us!
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Galatians 4:6)
God is with us through His Holy Spirit that He has sent into us just as He sent His Son into the world. The Spirit is continuing the full work of Jesus Christ, always pointing us to the cross and our heavenly Father to remind us that we are united with God for all eternity, having been made children of the heavenly Father. There is nothing empty about that! Just because the lights and the tree are put away, presents may lose their allure, and family go back home, doesn’t meant that God is don doing His Christmas work. The Holy Spirit causes the promise of Jesus to be born in us every day, as every day we wake up as baptized people of God. With the Holy Spirit in us, we cry out with that Spirit, “Abba! Father!” in joy that He will never leave us empty but always fill us with His gifts of love and eternal life!
Your filled brother in Christ,
Pastor Zach Sarrault
Please note, the church office will be operating on a limited schedule this week. Happy New Year!
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!