Bible Life Q and A - I heard a preacher talking about the rapture, but I can't find it in the Bible. Why?

The word rapture isn't in the Bible, but the words 'caught up together' are.  "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."  1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."  1 Corinthians 15:51-51

"For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."  Phillipians 3:20-21

A simple timeline to remember goes like this:

• Creation
• The fall of man
• Christ comes to save man from their sins
• The crusifixion where Christ dies for our sins
• His resurrection from the dead proving His divinity and revealing that this is full payment for our sins
• His ascension where Jesus goes back into heaven and sends the Holy Spirit, which is with us today
• The next big event is the second coming of Christ (the rapture) where the saints will be caught up together once and for all eternity. 
• That begins the great tribulation that last seven years.
• During this time Christ will reign on earth over all those who had not been born again up to this time.  He will reign for one thousand years and satan will be bound during this time. 
• The release of satan for a short time
• The great white throne judgement against all unbelievers
• The casting into the lake of fire satan, all demons and all those who do not turn to God for salvation
• The beginning of a new era, the kingdom era.

Of course there are many interpretations about the timeline of man that many great minds disagree on.  One church believes that the great tribulation starts at the time of the rapture, another doesn't believe in the great tribulation at all and then another believes that it has already occurred (A.D. 70) and another that it is occurring now. 

There are many denominations that do not acknowledge the rapture or the cathching up of the saints.  Many of these same denominations don't delieve in the virgin birth, the parting or the red sea, the great flood, Jonah, that Jesus actually died, that he rose again from the dead, that he is coming back, that there is a heaven or that there is a hell.  Some don't believe in sin, dying or that sickness ever existed.  Some fault the person dying of an illness with a lack of faith.  The list is long as to all the foolishness that man has conjured up in the name of religion.

But God transcends all the philosphies of the world and all their silly notions and all the ridiculous anti-biblical claims and provides a pure and perfect account of His doings in the Bible for all those who want to know the truth for themselves.

Here's a few referrences that might help put this issue together for you.
All of 1 Corinthians chapter 15
Matthew 24:42, 25:13, Luke 12:36-48, Acts 1:11, Phillipians 3:20-21, Titus 2:11-13, Revelation 4:1, Matthew 24:27-30, Luke 1:31-33, Acts 15:14-17, Revelation 20:1-10.