The following is the text of a sermon I preached on July 15, 2007, at Highland Park Presbyterian Church. For the contemporary worship service we’re doing a series called “You Asked For It,” where the pastors are taking turns preaching on topics the congregation expressed a special interest in. “Heaven” was my assignment. The primary text was Revelation 21:1-5.

The idea of Heaven is fascinating. It’s actually one of the few universal human fascinations. Pretty much everybody thinks about heaven. Even if it’s your own made-up, private version of “heaven,” you think about it. C.S. Lewis once described heaven as that remote music we’re born remembering. I think that captures it really well. The whole human race has a kind of deep memory of paradise lost, a faint but powerful awareness that there must be a better, different world that we were designed for.