Today is the seventh and final Sunday for our summer sermon series, “Rise and Shine,” examining a number of passages that offer light as an image of God’s presence and grace. Today’s reading is from Revelation 21 and 22, a glimpse into a vision for the new Jerusalem. Why would a vision of Paradise be a city rather than a beach setting, for example? God is a God of community, and the vision is one of Jerusalem made new – God dwelling with the people, with all of the people, with all nations coming into the city, a city characterized by abundance, safety, and healing. God calls us to live out the values of the New Jerusalem in the here and now, and therein lies our calling as a church.