Rev. Zach

I was aked by a friend to post a more recent picture of Sam and Zoe. Treva is actually working on a blog for each of them. Here's something for now.

Hi friends (and family)! I'm in the process of editing my old sermons and publishing a book that can be ordered on line. I also have a book of poetry that I wrote in seminary that I may consider publishing as well. Family members already have a copy. Just wanted to throw that out there in case any are interested. If you are interested, please post a comment in response to let me know. I'm going to do it just to get it done. I do not expect it to sell. Hearing that some folks are actually interested in the project might motivate me to get it done more quickly, though! Peace, Zach

“Of Dogs and Children” The Rev. Zachary S. Sasser First Presbyterian Church (USA) Dalton, Georgia 9/10/06 23rd Sunday – Year B Mark 7:24-30 24From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 28But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” 30So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. By now many of you know that I grew up in Kennesaw, GA. What you may not know is that I s...

“You’re on Fire!” The Rev. Zachary S. Sasser Chester Presbyterian Church Day of Pentecost, Year B Confirmation Sunday June 4, 2006 Scripture: Ezekiel 37:1-14 Acts 2:1-21 Sermon Text: Coming up with a sermon title is always an interesting task for me, especially since I usually have to submit a title before I actually write the sermon.  I do, of course do a preliminary study of the text, but there are some weird societal expectations that often come to bear.  I tend to feel like a sermon title should be some combination of a sticking point to take home with you and mull over and an advertising slogan that makes a person want to figure out what you are talking about.  My hope is that you will not soon forget today’s title or the gospel it proclaims, as it has special significance to me. “You’re on fire!” came from a restaurant I used to work in.  Every server (which is what I did there, I was a waiter) had a station of three or four tables that he o...

“Bearing the Word” The Rev. Zachary S. Sasser Chester Presbyterian Church Memorial Day: May 28, 2006 Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year A Scripture Texts: Acts 1:15-26 John 17:6-19 Theological Thrust: To be a Christian means to bear the very presence of God and to connect with God through others. This is not something we do on our own but something God does through us. We still make choices to make, but those choices are in response to God’s action. At the end of the day God’s will works through all things, even those choices that are not in keeping with God’s will as we understand it. Sermon Text: Being a Christian I tend to think of most things in light of faith. I don’t mean to say that I so pure and pious that I do nothing but contemplate the mystery of God. Rather it’s just a natural thing to think about how a movie, an event, or a commercial reminds me of my faith and of God’s activity in my life. So far one of my favorite commercials for this type of activity are the commercia...

“Sinless” The Rev. Zachary S. Sasser Chester Presbyterian Church April 30, 2006 Easter 3B Texts: 1 John 1:8-10 1 John 3:1-7 Today’s texts are two of the truest statements in the Bible.  Taken individually they could almost be seen as a summary of the Gospel.  All of us are in need of God’s forgiveness and if we remain in our sin we can not know and experience God’s love.  Sounds simple enough, but they also seem to represent a double standard.  You have to be without sin to know and experience God, but all of us sin so we can not know God.  The simple answer to this problem is, of course, that faith in Christ cleanses us from our sins when we confess them.  But what about the sins we will commit today, tomorrow, and the next day?  Can any of us really say that we will not sin?   Can we who are human, and imperfect, and wired for self preservation really say that we are going to put the interests of other peo...

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...