This Sunday we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. In reality we do that every time we gather for worship on Sunday.

The early Christians referred to the first day of the week as, "The Lord’s Day," and it is the resurrection that caused them to move their main day of worship to Sunday.

But it is Easter Sunday that is the biggest and most significant day of the Christian year. We all love Christmas, and we are grateful that God entered our world in a brand new way. Pentecost is also a great day as we remember that the Holy Spirit came to be with us at all times. Good Friday is a reminder of the great sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf.

But Easter is the day when God defeated death. There are still battles to fight, and there will be until Jesus returns. But on the very first Easter Sunday we know that death was put on notice. God is more powerful than all of the forces of evil. Jesus is alive, and because of that we can live forever.

I know that many find this incredulous. How can people living in the 21st century believe in something so fantastic? Are we not beyond that? Seriously! The idea that a dead man walked out of a grave is unacceptable to many in our world today. Science would seem to have ruled out such an idea.

And yet, think about this with me. First century people did not have the knowledge that we have today in science or medicine, that is true. But they knew certain things, and one of them is simple. They knew that dead people did not rise from the dead. That’s why it was such a big deal back then.

And let’s make this clear. The early Christians certainly believed. Time after time they gave their lives for the cause. They would not have done so for something they knew was a lie. No, they believed, because they had seen the Lord. The church exists today because Jesus is the risen Lord. He was alive then, and he is alive today.

That is why Easter matters so much. As we approach Sunday let us keep this in the forefront of our thoughts. Jesus is alive. That changes everything! Because he is alive we can live forever. For that we give thanks and celebrate.