NATCHEZ — Today’s celebration of Easter is what many area pastors consider the most important of the Christian holidays.

“Without Easter, there is no reason for any of the other days of the year, or for us to be here, for us to exist as a church,” said Crosspoint Church pastor the Rev. Andy Blair. “What Easter means to me is the fact that it allows me a way to be connected to the Creator of the universe”

The Rev. Troy Thomas of Bethel Church in Vidalia said that’s because Jesus died for the sins of humanity.

“Because of our sins, we are doomed to the lake of fire,” he said. “But because of the blood of Jesus, we get passed over for that fate.”

This week, the Rev. Paul Southerland of Highland Baptist Church said he wasn’t going to focus on why Jesus died, but rather why He lived.

“Everyone can answer why He died,” he said. “Very few can answer why He lived. It was to show us how to bring peace, that’s what He did during his 33 and a half years.

“That’s what the whole focus is of being a Christian is, bringing peace to others through Jesus. Anything else is messed up theology.”

The Rev. David O’Connor of St. Mary Basilica said he would also be delivering a message of peace and how much it is needed in this world today.

“I felt the need to talk about this because of so much terrorism going on in European countries, and in people’s personal lives there are all kinds of anxieties generated here as well,” he said. “People have individual troubles, family tensions due to the challenges we face like joblessness.”

O’Connor said Easter is a perfect time to talk about peace.

“The conviction that I have that the message of Christianity offers us a wonderful philosophy of life eternal is through the resurrection,” he said. “The resurrection authenticates the Christian faith.”

The Rev. LeRoy White of New Beginnings Missionary Baptist Church said he hopes the world does stay calm on Easter.

“I hope that we can have peace while celebrating the resurrection,” he said. “Around the whole world there is so much turmoil, but I hope we can have peace on this day.”

Crosspoint Church’s Blair said he has had his congregation work on what he calls the one-five-one challenge to make sure more people come to church on Easter Sunday.

“I have asked everyone to pick one person who doesn’t go to church, who maybe doesn’t even believe in God,” he said. “At 5 o’clock (p.m.) every day, I want them to pray for that person for one minute. And then invite that person to church.”

White said he understood why crowds were so big around this time a year — the resurrection is a very important topic to hear.

“If God got Jesus up, I believe that if we also stay faithful, He will get us up,” he said. “It is very vital that the ending is not an ending, but a new beginning.

“When we die we are not done.”

During this time, Thomas said he wanted to focus on why the resurrection was still important to Christians today.

“The resurrection is the thing that separates Christianity from every other religion,” he said. “Our Savior is risen.”

And since Jesus is still alive, Southerland said hope exists for all humanity.

“During that first Christmas when there were a myriad of Angels on earth, the first thing they said was, ‘Peace on earth and good will to man,’” he said. “Yes Jesus died for our sins, but that’s not all there is to it. He also dies so that we might bring peace to others through allowing Him to live through us.”

The Rev. Nance Hixon of Grace Methodist Church said his Easter message aims to bring back a stronger meaning of the word hope.

“I would say Easter means that hope is never lost,” he said. “Sometimes we are not able to see it for a while, but it is never lost.

“Christians worship the God of hope.”

Hixon said God could take something that is just totally broken and bring new life.

“We use the word hope a lot for all kinds of things, like we hope the Tigers beat ‘Bama,” he said. “But I don’t think hope is supposed to be this kind of wishy-washy, close your eyes and wait to see kind of thing. It is supposed to be more solid, substantial, something we can stand on.

“Easter is why hope is so solid, so sound.”