Easter Sunday is the pinnacle of the Christian faith.
On two recent trips to Israel, almost 50 local believers took in sights that brought the resurrection of Jesus Christ alive before their very eyes.
    Jimmy Cason, the senior pastor of Statesboro First United Methodist Church, led a group from his church, accompanied by some from Brooklet United Methodist, Sylvania First Baptist, Portal United Methodist, Oak Park United Methodist and Statesboro First Presbyterian.
    Dr. John Waters, the pastor of Statesboro First Baptist Church and president of the Georgia Baptist Convention, recently returned with his group.
    “More than just a sightseeing adventure, a trip to the Holy Land is a spiritual pilgrimage, allowing believers to experience God’s presence in a special way,” Waters said. “Walking along the streets of old Jerusalem and traveling across the rolling hills of Galilee enable believers to learn, grow, and draw closer to the Lord. Seeing the landscape and cities of the Holy Land converts your Bible into a pop-up book as the places and events in the Scripture become three-dimensional in your mind’s eye.”
    The groups spent time in Galilee, visiting Mount Carmel, Nazareth, Capernaum and Caesarea Philippi, and traveling by boat across the Sea of Galilee.
    The travelers visited Masada, Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and several donned swimming attire and floated with other tourists in the Dead Sea.
    In and near Jerusalem, those on pilgrimage saw the Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane, Temple Mount, Garden Tomb, and trod the Via Dolorosa -- believed to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross on the way to his crucifixion.
     “The monumental weight of each step I took on the Via Dolorosa, knowing that Christ took the same steps – it’s just more than your mind can absorb,” Melanie Braddy said.
    Her husband, Ray, agreed that the trip was so much to absorb that he hopes to return one day.
 “I could’ve stayed longer. I loved it,” he said. “To be able to walk around the Sea of Galilee and realize Jesus spent most of his ministry there, it just makes the Bible come alive. I used to think it was all desert, rocks, and camels. But it’s very lush, very beautiful.”
    Jan Moye, the wife of Pastor Wes Moye of Brooklet United Methodist Church, said: “The Israel trip is the most meaningful trip that I’ve ever taken; a trip of a lifetime. It’s amazing to be walking streets where you know Jesus walked.”
Cason and his wife, Susan, have traveled to Jerusalem twice before. He said some of his greatest joy on this trip was watching others see the land Jesus walked for their first time. He was especially moved at one particular spot.
“As I looked down into the Kidron Valley from the Mount of Olives, I remembered that from the place I was sitting, Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem,” he said. “I wondered how many times Jesus has wept over us when we disregard his teachings.”
    Cason also said the Garden Tomb, believed to be the tomb that temporarily held Jesus’ dead body after the crucifixion, always touches him.
“As you walk out of the tomb, visible over the door on the inside are the words: ‘He is not here; He has risen!’ We do not worship a grave, for the grave could not keep Jesus,” he said. “We visit an empty tomb because our Lord is alive!”
    Becky Livingston, the president and CEO of Bethany Assisted Living Facility, was also touched by her visit to the empty tomb and its implications.
    “When we left the tomb, we walked by a large wine press and had the opportunity to have communion, led by Pastor Jimmy,” she said. “When we left the stone alcove where the service was held, we noticed a beautiful green vine with large leaves growing right out of the stone. My dear friend Roxella [Ball] said, ‘You just never know what will grow from the seed that is planted.’
    “And it struck me. That’s what it’s all about. It’s not about us … but Jesus, who has given us this opportunity to plant a seed … to take the time to nurture a hurt or distressed pilgrim. Could there be a greater privilege this side of heaven?”