Rev. Zach

I'm up way too late again. I wonder how many blog posts start that way? I'm at a house in Nag's Head in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Funny how God takes things that stand for pain and suffering, like the cross, and turns them into banners for victory. You see I came here for my honeymoon for my first marriage. Neither of us knew what we were doing. We had no business getting maried...both trying to fix ourselves through someone else's affection. I've been divorced from her for 11 years now. Really its almost a dream of a memory at this point. I'm now married to a partner God has called me to be with. I have two beautiful children, and I am sitting here listening to thunder roll past this incredible beach house I am sharing with friends from seminary for a week. Nag's Head has become a sanctuary of sorts for me. I don't know that all this has much to do with finding Christ in the unfortunate, except for the fact that we in this group expre...

So, the gang from the POJ who went to New Orleans are back safe and sound. Praise be to God! So, now I'm off to find the next example of proclamation in action! Happy Easter, one and all! -Zach

Gulf Coast Mission Trip Update – Wednesday, April 12, 2006 Our third day of work started without event. Breakfast was bagels and fruit, and we got an early start. Having finished work on Mike’s Mom’s house, one group got started working on Katherine’s house – again untouched since August 29. It was an emotional start, as the homeowner, her teenage daughter and her mother were present to see everything they owned scattered around the house in ruins. The youth showed a great deal of compassion and helped to get started on the clean up effort. This family had a lot of belongings, and the group had to literally shovel things off the floor to get into a room. By the end of the day, the floors were cleared and progress was being made on deconstruction. LuAnne’s house is almost finished. A small contingency stayed to work on removing the ceiling and the floors. To look at the before and after pictures is fascinating – they have removed everything down to the studs. LuAnne will be abl...

Gulf Coast Mission Trip Update – Day 3 (Tuesday) Another early morning saw us moving and ready for a day of hard work. The breakfast crew treated us to strawberry and/or chocolate chip pancakes, so we were well fed and ready to go. By 9:00 each group was on their work sites. The group at LuAnne’s house had finished removing personal belongings and began removing walls and floors. The smell was much better, until the floor in the basement came up. Those N-95 masks have been a definite necessity! All that remains in this house is to finish removing floors, remove the ceiling and empty out the garage. We expect to finish this house up on Wednesday. The group at Mike’s Mom’s house finished their work today. The walls have been removed down to the studs. The ceilings and floors have been taken out, and all the deconstruction debris removed. We even trimmed back some trees. This work group is looking forward to the opportunity to start from scratch with an “untouched” house. They w...

Gulf Coast Mission Trip Update – April 10, 2006 Our first day of work began early this morning. After eating breakfast and preparing our lunches, the vehicles were loaded and we headed to Lakeview at 8:30. Unfortunately, the mini-bus acquired a flat tire, so we were down to two vehicles for the day. One group went to the home of LuAnn, a two story brick house that had flooded up to 18 inches in the second story. LuAnn’s house had not been touched since August, and it looked like everything would have to go. The first piece of furniture removed was an old piano, followed by tables, chairs, sofas and a refrigerator. Not only was there furniture to remove, but all of LuAnn’s belongings had been scattered around her house in the flood. Almost nothing could be salvaged after sitting in the flood waters. The workers were suited up in Tyvek suits with gloves,safety goggles, masks and boots. It was difficult to recognize individuals, they were so covered up. Many of the youth renamed ...

After a mere 20 hours on the road from Richmond, the Gulf Coast Mission Team from the Presbytery of the James arrived in Metairie, Louisiana. Our trip was fairly eneventful,though quite interesting with stops in every state along the way (except Mississippi - it was too late!). We finally reached our destination, the John Calvin Presbyterian Church in Metairie (a suburb of New Orleans) at 1:16 local time. An exhausted group quickly unloaded the vehicles, pumped up some air mattresses, and quickly fell asleep. Sunday morning brought the opportunity to sleep a bit later,and we gathered with the congregation at JCPC for a lovely Palm/Passion Sunday worship service, where we were greeted enthusiastically and thanked profusely for our presence. This congregation of 300 has established itself as a base of operations in Metairie, greeting teams of worker from as far as York County, Pennsylvania. The church works in tandem with the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance program, helping over 20 ...

You may have read some of the earlier posts about friends I have in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. I started working with a friend named Sonya in Metairie and some other ministers in our presbytery to field a team of youth to go down there during Spring Break. God has provided the leadership and a crew of 15 youth and 10 adults from 6 congregations is down there right now. I'll be posting thier emails so you can get a first hand account of their experience. I'm disapointed that I could not convey to my youth and their families the opportunity of meeting Christ in the need of others. I am disappointed that leisure and convenience trumps human suffering. At the same time I am aware that these brave souls have gone into dangerous territory where there is much disease and opportunity for personal injury. I am also guilty of this same transgression, as I can not justify going on the trip without my youth given that Treva and I have a 2 yr. old and a six week old at home with no...

A group of minister friends I met in seminary are now publishing a blog and a podcast about all things Presbyterian (USA), the church and pop culture, and other random topics from a slightly Reformed perspective. You can find the links on this blog or you can find the podcast through iTunes.

I've been away from the blog for a while, but I have a good excuse (other than the fact that this is totally narcisistic). Anyway, God gave Samual Scott Sasser to our family on February 16, 2006. He is happy and health, as is his mother, Treva. His big sister, Zoe, loves him and is adjusting well to concepts like sharing and not stepping on his head. As for me, words can't describe my joy.

“We Want To See Jesus” The Rev. Zachary S. Sasser Chester Presbyterian Church April 9, 2006 Palm Sunday Statement before scripture reading: Our text and our theme for worship today are so familiar that it is easy to take them for granted. Most of us know this story so well we could recite it, which for the average Presbyterian is a pretty big deal. In the reading of this passage I want you to consider the issue of perspective. (John-Charles Holmes- 8:30, Kristen Carter- 11:00), a member of our confirmation class will be reading the majority of the text, but I’ll read verses 16-19 given that the author injects a parenthetical statement in these verses interpreting the events as they are unfolding. As this passage is read, I want you to pick a character and do your best to consider the story from that person’s perspective. Consider the sights, sounds, and smells. Consider the feeling of anticipation. Consider the way in which the crowd joins in and praises a man on a donkey like h...