Happy Easter!

Easter Sunday is considered the most important Christian holiday. It celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after his death. It is popularly celebrated with egg hunting and toy bunny rabbits. Easter Sunday is Sunday, April 12, 2009 this year. Easter Sunday is preceded by the season of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and repentence culminating in Holy Week, and followed by a 50-day Easter Season that stretches from Easter to Pentecost.

Chocolate and candy eggs have become popular in this century, but exchanging of eggs in the springtime is an ancient custom. Egyptians buried eggs in their tombs. The Greeks placed eggs on their tombs. A Roman proverb states, "All life comes from an egg". In most cultures, the egg signifies birth and resurrection. So when the church began to celebrate the Resurrection in the second century, the egg was a popular symbol.

The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. The bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have it's origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s. The first bunnies were not made of chocolate; they were made of pastry and sugar.

We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was resurrected, and we will be with Him for eternity!