There is a right way and a wrong way for a believer to think about death. While virtually all believers understand that Christ died for their sin and that they will enter Heaven after death, very few understand the fundamental impact that Christ has on death for a believer (2 Tim 1:10). Luther concludes,

death, sin, and hell will flee with all their might if in the night we but keep our eyes on the glowing picture of Christ and his saints and abide in the faith, which does not see and does not want to see the false pictures. Furthermore, we must encourage and strengthen ourselves with the Word of God as with the sound of trumpets. (Martin Luther, A Sermon On Preparing To Die)

The contemporary church’s reluctance to publicly and openly address the believer’s preparation for death has sad consequences. At the very moment when Christ’s atoning work is at its most powerful, shining  like a brilliant beacon with almost unbearable light . . . with its silence the church effectively extinguishes the lighthouse during the worst part of a raging storm plunging the struggling ship into darkness. The church’s reluctance to publicly address death in this way since the mid-20th century woefully robs the believer of his greatest and most powerful weapon when it is most needed.