MONROE - Christians around the world celebrated Easter Sunday and remembered the day Jesus Christ rose from the grave.
Area churches were filled as people sang hymns of praise and listened to the story of the first Easter.
For congregations of all faiths, Easter is one of the two holiest days of the year.
Unlike Christmas, Easter doesn't often get lost in the all the trappings that go along with it. There is no Santa Claus or the rush to buy the perfect present.
It's more of a day to reflect.
The Rev. Mike Heath, pastor of St. John's United Church of Christ in Monroe, said Easter gives a meaning to everything. Without Easter, Christmas isn't important.
"Easter makes Jesus the Christ," he said.
Heath talked to his congregation Sunday about how Jesus told his disciples he was going to die but they didn't understand until he was nailed to the cross and until they saw him after the resurrection.
"If it wasn't for the resurrection, Jesus wouldn't have been the Messiah," Heath said.
The Rev. Thomas Miller, pastor at Juda Zion United Methodist Church, agreed with Heath that Easter is the most important Christian holiday.
"When Jesus was on the cross, he said 'It is finished,'" Miller said. That meant that he accomplished what he came to do, he said.
Miller said Jesus' death and resurrection meant that the sacrifice made to God was accepted.
"In the Old Testament, a priest would go into the temple to offer a sacrifice. If he came back out, it meant God accepted the sacrifice," he said. "When Jesus came back from the dead, it showed that God accepted his sacrifice for our sins."
Area churches were filled as people sang hymns of praise and listened to the story of the first Easter.
For congregations of all faiths, Easter is one of the two holiest days of the year.
Unlike Christmas, Easter doesn't often get lost in the all the trappings that go along with it. There is no Santa Claus or the rush to buy the perfect present.
It's more of a day to reflect.
The Rev. Mike Heath, pastor of St. John's United Church of Christ in Monroe, said Easter gives a meaning to everything. Without Easter, Christmas isn't important.
"Easter makes Jesus the Christ," he said.
Heath talked to his congregation Sunday about how Jesus told his disciples he was going to die but they didn't understand until he was nailed to the cross and until they saw him after the resurrection.
"If it wasn't for the resurrection, Jesus wouldn't have been the Messiah," Heath said.
The Rev. Thomas Miller, pastor at Juda Zion United Methodist Church, agreed with Heath that Easter is the most important Christian holiday.
"When Jesus was on the cross, he said 'It is finished,'" Miller said. That meant that he accomplished what he came to do, he said.
Miller said Jesus' death and resurrection meant that the sacrifice made to God was accepted.
"In the Old Testament, a priest would go into the temple to offer a sacrifice. If he came back out, it meant God accepted the sacrifice," he said. "When Jesus came back from the dead, it showed that God accepted his sacrifice for our sins."