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This Sunday, Christian churches will celebrate Easter, the date observed as the resurrection of Jesus from the dead following his crucifixion on a cross as a sacrifice for man’s sin.

“It is our most holy day in the Christian church, said Stephen Rhoads, pastor of Pollard United Methodist Church in Tyler.

“It is a full celebration of the power of God and the strength of his grace to man to overcome the biggest foe any of us will ever face — death.”

As told in the New Testament of the Bible, Jesus, the son of God, overcame death and made his presence known to many before ascending to heaven.

The Bible teaches that Jesus offered eternal life to all who believe in him.

Easter also is accepted by Christians as fulfillment of Jewish prophecy that God’s chosen Messiah would be persecuted, die for man’s sins and rise on the third day.

The story of or references to the resurrection are found in the Gospels and throughout the New Testament, which emphasizes the life of Christ and the works of early Christians.

The Gospel of Matthew offers this account: “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (both followers of Jesus) went to look at the tomb (where Jesus was buried). There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. … The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen.’”

The Apostle Paul, whose work in spreading the Gospel is chronicled in the New Testament, tells in the book of Romans the significance of the resurrection.

“Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

Rhoads said many who worship at Pollard United Methodist and their guests attend the congregation’s annual Easter sunrise service.

He said those who worship also are encouraged to place flowers on a cross located outside the sanctuary.

“The flowers end up covering the cross,” he said, noting that it transforms the cross, an emblem of death, into an emblem of new life.

The Easter Sunday service traditionally draws one of the largest crowds of the year and often attracts those who rarely attend worship services, he said.

Rhoads said he uses the sermon to present the Christian message of Jesus’ sacrifice and God’s grace.

“I try to connect it (Jesus overcoming death) with overcoming the struggles we face day to day,” he said. “We know that there is nothing greater than the power of our living savior and that he will help us through them.”

Dr. Stuart Baskin, the senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Tyler, said the celebration of Easter is an expression of faith.

“The Resurrection is the central most important piece of the Christian faith,” he said. “It is God breaking down the wages (of sin) that separates man and God. …The message of Easter that forms the deep center of all my teaching is that through Jesus Christ, God has finally broken down all the barriers that divide. Therefore, we have this possibility of a reconciled existence with God and one another.”

At First Presbyterian the Easter Sunday service is the final of three special services of Holy Week that honor the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

The Maundy Thursday service draws attention to Jesus as a servant of God and the Lord’s Supper, the final time Jesus shared a meal with his closest disciples.

The Good Friday service commemorates the death of Jesus on the cross and, at First Presbyterian, includes a ceremonial extinguishing of candles to represent the darkness of Jesus’ temporary death.

When worshipers arrive at First Presbyterian on Easter Sunday, the sanctuary will still be dark from the Good Friday service, Baskin said.

The darkness is replaced by light to represent that Jesus, the light of the world, has overcome the darkness of death and sin.

On Easter Sunday, First Presbyterian also will hold a brunch on its lawn and Easter egg hunt for children.