Rockin’ the Church Calendar

Session 3: Christmas

 

Mikhala Jene: The Annunciation

Verse 1

When I was 14

God gave me a dream

An angel came and told me

I was created to sing

And the gift that I would carry

And all the joy it could bring

But honestly it scared me

But I said yes and believed

And I knew I needed to leave

'Cuz I was a big fish in a small pond who needed the sea

So many nights I suffocated 'cuz I couldn’t breathe

No it ain’t easy being pregnant

With a purpose so much bigger than me

 

Hook

Wade in the water

I’m waitin' for my water to break

Waves in the water

God’s gonna show up and shake

Wade in the water

Don’t know how much more I can take

Waves under water

God’s gotta show up and shake

 

Verse 2

Trynna turn doubters into believers

Removing the blinders so they can see ya

It’s all a part of the plan sometimes they won’t understand ya

May have to walk on your own

Just know you’re never alone

Every dreamer has been slept on

Sometimes you need them to prove them wrong

'Cuz pain in delivery gives birth to a destiny


Hook

So wade in the water

Wait for my water to break

Waves in the water

God’s gonna show up and shake

Wade in the water

Don’t know how much more I can take

Waves under water

God’s gotta show up and shake

 

Trynna turn doubters into believers

Removing the blinders so they can see ya

It’s all a part of the plan sometimes they won’t understand ya

May have to walk on your own

Just know you’re never alone

Every dreamer has been slept on

Sometimes you need them to prove them wrong

'Cuz pain in delivery gives birth to a destiny

 

Indigo Girls - Peace Child

In the sleep of the night

In the dark before light

You come

In the silence of stars

In the violence of wars--

Savior, your name

 

Peace Child

To the road and the storm

To the gun and the bomb

You come

Through the hate and the hurt

 

Through the hunger and dirt--

Bearing a dream

 

Peace Child

To our dark and our sleep

To the conflict we reap

Now come--

Be your dream born alive

Held in hope, wrapped in love:

God's true shalom

 

Bruce Cockburn – Cry of a Tiny Babe

[Verse 1]

Mary grows a child without the help of a man

Joseph gets upset because he doesn't understand

Angel comes to Joseph in a powerful dream

Says "God did this, and you're part of his scheme"

Joseph comes to Mary with his hat in his hand

Says, "Forgive me, I thought you'd been with some other man"

She say, "What if I had been? But I wasn't anyway

And guess what? I felt the baby kick today"

 

[Chorus]

Like a stone on the surface of a still river

Driving the ripples on forever

Redemption rips through the surface of time

In the cry of a tiny babe

 

[Verse 2]

The child is born in the fullness of time

Three wise astrologers take note of the signs

Come to pay their respects to the fragile little king

Get pretty close to wrecking everything

'Cause the governing body of the Holy Land

Is that of Herod, a paranoid man

Who when he hears there's a baby born King of the Jews

Sends death squads to kill all male children under two

But that same bright angel warns the parents in a dream

And they head out for the border and get away clean

[Chorus]

Like a stone on the surface of a still river

Driving the ripples on forever

Redemption rips through the surface of time

In the cry of a tiny babe

 

[Verse 3]

And there are others who know about this miracle birth

The humblest of people catch a glimpse of their worth

For it isn't to the palace that the Christ child comes

But to shepherds and street people, hookers and bums

And the message is clear if you have ears to hear

That forgiveness is given for your guilt and your fears

It's a Christmas gift that you don't have to buy

There's a future shining in a baby's eye

 

[Chorus]

Like a stone on the surface of a still river

Driving the ripples on forever

Redemption rips through the surface of time

In the cry of a tiny babe

Like a stone on the surface of a still river

Driving the ripples on forever

Redemption rips through the surface of time

In the cry of a tiny babe

 

Jackson Browne: The Rebel Jesus

[Verse 1]

Ah the streets are filled with laughter and light

And the music of the season

And the merchants' windows are all bright

With the faces of the children

And the families hurrying to their homes

As the sky darkens and freezes

Will be gathering around their hearths and tales

Giving thanks for God's graces

And the birth of the rebel Jesus

 

[Verse 2]

Ah they call him by the "Prince of Peace"

And they call him by "The Saviour"

And they pray to him upon the seas

And in every bold endeavor

And they fill his churches with their pride and gold

As their faith in him increases

But they've turned the nature that I worshipped in

From a temple to a robber's den

In the words of the rebel Jesus

 

[Verse 3]

We guard our world with locks and guns

And we guard our fine possessions

And once a year when Christmas comes

We give to our relations

And perhaps we give a little to the poor

If the generosity should seize us

But if any one of us should interfere

In the business of why there are poor

They get the same as the rebel Jesus

[Verse 4]

But pardon me if I have seemed

To take the tone of judgment

For I've no wish to come between

This day and your enjoyment

In a life of hardship and of earthly toil

There's a need for anything that frees us

So I bid you pleasure

And I bid you cheer

From a heathen and a pagan

On the side of the rebel Jesus