Week 7 // Easter // April 17-23

Why so solemn? Why so gloomy?
Jesus isn’t here, he busted out, he left the tomb
He needed more room, he needed more room to bloom
They keep tryin’ to bury Jesus, but God’s love exhumes
I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES, GLORY HALLELUJAH!

You can’t bury a seed and think it won’t grow
Can’t give a trumpet to a kid and think she won’t blow
Or give love to somebody, think it won’t show
So let the horn blow, in case they don’t know
I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES, GLORY HALLELUJAH!

Death tries so hard to win, it’s almost comical
Death wastes time on Him, not economical
Balloons give up their air, become unpoppable,
When Jesus gave his life, he became unstoppable!
Love so deep that you can’t touch bottom
Love so wide that the net always caught ‘em
Love so rich that the moon wears gold
Love so big that the tomb can’t hold
I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES, GLORY HALLELUJAH!

God’s kingdom is not built on domination
No, Jesus builds the kingdom like a different kind of nation
Built upside down with jubilation, celebration
And giving up power and money and station and
Being patient, gentle, humble, loving, kind
Faithful, merciful, leaving fear and hate behind
And loving God with heart, soul, and mind
And knowing Jesus’ love can never be confined
I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES, GLORY HALLELUJAH!

Jesus...Jesus had to decide
In the wilderness, would he stand up or hide?
Would he relent and give up, and ask that the cup pass from him?
Cut the ties, and give in?
No, Jesus tethered himself to Love, together-ed himself with God
Trusting that LOVE would sustain
As he walked into the storm, the wind, the rain,
The hurricane of resistance to the kind of life he was showing
Seed he was growing
Love he was knowing
The way he was going
Not the way of a soldier
But the way of a lamb
Giving himself over.
Plants don’t decide to give themselves over. They just do. Life flows through
From the seed to the sprout to the flower to the bulb
To the sprout to the seed in the streaming of Love
Oh, Jesus is the seed, the sprout, irrepressible
And he ain’t in the tomb, he’s out, sing it “Yes, my Lord!”
I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES, GLORY HALLELUJAH!
WHAT COMFORT THIS SWEET SENTENCE GIVES, GLORY HALLELUJAH!

Lyrics and Music: Greg Yoder, 2018, with chorus lyrics by Samuel Medley (1738-1799) and chorus music by Lewis D. Edwards (1858-1921)

Vocals: Greg Yoder, Lauren Yoder