Guest speaker Dr. Hud McWilliams joined us this Sunday, reminding us the importance of “starting with death.” Our world does all it can to avoid seeing and experiencing death, yet it is a fate that awaits us all. God’s desire for his created people, however, is not death but life, and through his son Jesus he has offered us eternal life. We can now face the reality of death, not with despair but with hope; death shatters pretense, prioritizes our life, and allows us to live more fully in the confidence of a loving Father.