REV. Zachery Sarrault, Associate PASTOR
Pastor’s Corner for September 1-7, 2024
Our God Gives
(Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9)
One of the reasons I enjoy reading the Old Testament is the simple fact that it is old. I find it absolutely fascinating that I can hold in my hands something that is thousands of years old, that millions of people have read, something that hasn’t changed from when it was first written, that I get to read stories about real people in real time from the oldest piece of history we have. Adding to this fascination, is that many of the people we read about we will actually see in heaven someday! The fascination keeps growing when I think on the God of creation, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Moses and David and Solomon and all the rest is our God too!
So, when I read any portion of the Old Testament, I always need to sit back and meditate on the awesomeness of what God has given me to read and enjoy. Even this passage in Deuteronomy, as God is preparing His people to enter the long-awaited Promised Land, we are shown that God has never changed. He has always been a God who gives.
God gives rules. It might not sound very fun, but it is something God gives. The question is, why does God give rules? He gives rules, statutes, laws, commands (they go by many names) so “that you may live” (v. 1). God gives us His righteous rules (v. 8) so that we may live life well, that we may enjoy the life that God gives and hold our relationship with Him close. Living life well, according to God’s will, isn’t just for our own benefit, it is for the benefit of others (v. 6). Even in Deuteronomy, God calls His people to live well so that others may know His love, and that call has never changed.
God gives a land (v. 1). One could argue that this is God’s goal throughout His entire Story. God gives His people a land, He calls His people back. All throughout God’s Story, we see His people break those righteous rules. That theme carries through into our own lives as well. We break those rules all the time. We know our failure and the sins that plague our lives, but we have a giving God who gives us an eternal land, not because we got it all right but because that is who God is. He can’t help but give us His good things.
God gives His presence (v. 7). Even though God’s people break His rules and wander from the path towards His land, He still gives Himself. He draws near to us when we call to Him, repenting of our sin and asking for His forgiveness. God has always found joy in a repentant people. God has always forgiven His people. God has always protected His people. God has always drawn His people to Himself.
Because our God is a giving God, we can’t help be a receiving people. When God’s people stop receiving, that’s when we find ourselves in a hard place. Let God be God and receive the things He wants to give.
Your receiving 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!