For a moment imagine a scene of peace:  close your eyes and imagine it – describe it to yourself as fully as you can – enter into it deeply enough to feel its glow.   Some of you may have pictured yourself dozing in the bottom of a rowboat on a calm and tranquil lake. 

The fundamental fact of our faith is – Jesus is Lord of the Living and The Dead, by him, the dead receive new life, and through faith in him, the living never die.   I am the resurrection and the life, they who believe in me, though they die, yet shall they live, and everyone