What does the bible teach us about the second coming of Jesus?

In seeking to answer the question "What does the bible teach about what happens to people after they die?", it has become clear to me that the bible talks a lot about the fact that there will be a moment in history when Jesus returns to being judgment and resurrection.

from Hebrews 9:

And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

The early church lived with eager anticipation of this event in history - not knowing exactly when it would happen, but definitely allowing the certainty of it to shape they way they lived their lives.

Are we prepared for that day?  Are we living in a way that anticipates that day?

We are made for more than merely getting through this life.

We are made for more than having a comfortable life.

We are made for more than accumulating wealth and a retirement plan.

We are made for more than the American dream and the pursuit of our own happiness.

We are made to know Him and make Him known.

We are made to work with Him in bringing heaven to earth.

We are made to love and serve others in His name.

We are made to bear His image and to reflect His glory and character into the world.

Living in the light of the second coming of Jesus focuses our lives on what is eternal, what really matters.

Living in the light of His coming keeps us from wasting the precious time He has given us.

What happens when we die?

Fellas,

Here are some scriptures to ponder on.  Pondering means we are searching and have not concluded anything.

Ecclesiastes 9:5  "For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know nothing whatsoever..."

Ecclesiastes 9:10  "All that your hands find to do, do with vigor; for there is no doing, or devising, or knowledge, or wisdom in the unseen where you are going"

Psalm 6:5  "For in death there is no remembrance of you; in the unseen, who shall acclaim you?"

Psalm 146:3,4  "Do not trust in patrons, in a son of humanity with whom there is no salvation.  His spirit has go forth and he shall return to the ground; in that day his reflections perish."

Psalm 115:17  "The dead cannot praise God, nor all those descending into stillness."

John 11:11-14  I'm paraphrasing here but Jesus first says he's gonna raise Lazarus from sleep.  Then the disciples thought sleep as in REM sleep.  then Jesus told them that they are idiots and says plainly that Lazarus had died.

1 Corinthians 15:51-58  Basically these versus say that the dead will rise without decay and join the Lord in an instant.

Acts 2:34  King David did not ascend into Heaven.  He is awaiting the 2nd coming.

John 5:28,29  The righteous will come from the grave into life with Jesus and the wicked will come from the grave into life under judgement.

John 14:2,3  Jesus tells he is going to go make a place ready for us and come back to get us in the future.

For now, I believe this is sufficient for study material.  When all scripture about death is laid on the table the evidence points me towards unconscious slumber until the return of Christ rather than a prejudgment ascension into Heaven or free fall into Hell.  This is an important study because it involves the thing that most of the world fears...death.  Plus our beliefs about where people go when they die lead us to make some wild judgments about other individuals and might give us a anxious complex to save ourselves and others before they die.  Jesus commands us to be anxious for nothing.  

Let's ponder