Greg Yoder Greg Yoder

Epiphany // Week 8 // Jan. 15-21

Because of the tender mercy of our God,
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
By which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to us from heaven

Rescue us from our pride and our arrogance.
And cover us in your mercy, O rising Son
Rescue us from our hate and indifference.
And cover us in your shadow, Almighty One.

And lead us in your way of peace
And lead us in your way of peace
And lead us in your way of peace
Amen, Amen, Amen.

Because of the tender mercy of our God

Lyrics: Direct quotation of Luke 1:78 (NIV) with additional words by Seth Thomas Crissman, 2022 // Music: Seth Thomas Crissman, 2022 // Vocals: Seth Crissman and Taylor Bess

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CHRISTMAS // Week 6 // Jan. 1-7

We give thanks to you, LORD
For your mercies are new every day
And your goodness and love will sustain us.
We give thanks.

We sing praise to you, God,
You have broken the sword and the shield,
And your heart of love you revealed,
and we sing praise.

Teach us your way, teach us your way
That we may fear your name
Teach us to number out our days
That we may know the height and depth and breadth of your love.

Sing praise, sing praise, sing praise to the Holy One
Sing of God’s goodness that fills the whole earth
Sing praise, sing praise, sing praise to the Holy One
Sing and give thanks to the LORD

Lyrics: Seth Thomas Crissman, 2022 // Music: Seth Thomas Crissman, 2022 // Vocals: Lauren Yoder and Mitchell Yoder

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CHRISTMAS // Week 5 // Dec. 25-31

Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing of the wonderful birth,
Tell of salvation from day to day.
Oh, sing to the Lord, all the earth
Oh, sing to the Lord, all the earth

Sing his glory among the nations,
Behold his marvelous works
Sing to the Lord of all creation;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth
Sing to the Lord, all the earth

Honor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty and light
the mountains cry out, and the hills that adore him
Sing with us into the night,
Sing with us into the night

Sing to the Lord a new song; Sing of the wonderful birth,
Tell of salvation from day to day.
Oh, sing to the Lord, all the earth
Oh, sing to the Lord, all the earth

Let the heavens rejoice,
at the birth of our infant king
Let the earth be glad,
let all the trees of the forest sing
Let the heavens rejoice,
at the birth of our infant king
Let the seas resound,
let all the trees of the forest sing

Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing of the wonderful birth,
Tell of salvation from day to day. Oh, sing to the Lord, all the earth
Oh, sing to the Lord, all the earth

Lyrics: Jackson Maust, 2022, based on Psalm 96 // Music: Greg Yoder and Jackson Maust, 2022 // Vocals: Jackson Maust, Mitchell Yoder, and Greg Yoder

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Advent // Week 4 // Dec. 18-24

Restore us, O God of hosts,
let your face shine, that we may be saved

When we lost the baby, I was broken
Chest split open, heart caught in my throat and
I was chokin’ on the notion,
we were adrift in the ocean
Searching for a rope and
something to hope in Something
to cling to, a song to sing,
but there was no one to sing to
Grief unspoken, belief just a token,
dried up on my tongue, just going through the motions
Like a marionette who had his strings snapped
Every time I try to explain it just falls flat
Like a vase that falls from the shelf can’t fix itself,
But the Potter collects the pieces makes something else
Mix gold in the lacquer, plaster the cracks,
and bring it on back to wholeness,
The boldness to not try to hide the flaws,
to not try to sweep away
The broken bits, mix gold in the dust,
be bold in our trust, put it all on display

Restore us, O God of hosts,
let your face shine, that we may be saved

Joseph had a technicolor dreamcoat
Made his brothers jealous like a raft envying a steamboat
He spoke of visions, and they saw him as a threat,
and they threw him in a well, didn’t get wet,
Yet his brothers got the best of him, sold him upriver
Dagger to their daddy’s heart, pull the arrow from the quiver,
They came quivering and shivering, bowing down before him
God softened his heart and Joseph restored them
When the baby cries in the darkness
A light shines forth, softening the hardness
And all the people living with their backs to the wall
Hear the baby’s call, and maybe they stand tall
I know we can’t all be shepherds in the fields
With the glory of the Heavenly hosts making us kneel
And our zeal turns to steel
when we wheel and we deal
In abstractions, obfuscating what is real,
Like a mother singing in the silence
Her lullaby the roar of a lioness
When the baby cries out, it’s thunder
Shakes the words out my mouth, awestruck in my wonder
That infinite Love wrapped itself in this form
So fragile, clinging to his mother to stay warm
Like a mother hen, gathering us close to the chest
Hope for the oppressed, father for the fatherless
Welcome for the foreigner, provision for the poor
And a vision for those vases broken open on the floor

Restore us, O God of hosts,
let your face shine, that we may be saved

Lyrics: Direct quotation of Psalm 80:7 (NRSV), with verses by Greg Yoder, 2022 // Music: Seth Thomas Crissman and Greg Yoder, 2022 // Vocals: Greg Yoder, Ebony Nicole, and Kristina Yoder

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Advent // Week 3 // Dec. 11-17

“Comfort, comfort O my people;
speak of peace,” so says our God.
“Comfort those who sit in darkness,
groaning from their sorrows’ load.
Speak to all Jerusalem
of the peace that waits for them;
tell them that their sins I cover,
that their warfare now is o’er.”

Hear the voice of one who’s crying
in the desert far and near,
calling people to repentance
for the kingdom now is here.
O that warning cry obey!
Now prepare for God a way;
let the Valleys rise to meet him
and the hills bow down to him.

Then make straight the crooked highway;
make the rougher places plain.
Let your hearts be true and humble,
ready for his holy reign.
For the glory of the Lord
now o’er earth is spread abroad,
and all flesh hear love spoken
that his word is never broken.

Lyrics: Johann Olearius, 1671; tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1863, alt.// Music: Seth Thomas Crissman, 2022 // Vocals: Rachel Mast and Kristina Yoder

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Advent // Week 2 // Dec. 4-10

Creator of the stars of night,
your people’s everlasting light,
O Christ, Redeemer of us all,
we pray you hear us when we call.
Hosanna

Creator of the stars of night,
your people’s everlasting light,
O Christ, Redeemer of us all,
we pray you hear us when we call.
Hosanna

Lyrics: 9th century Latin hymn, tr. J.M. Neale, 1852 // Music: Seth Thomas Crissman, 2022 // Vocals: Valerie Bess and Taylor Bess

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Greg Yoder Greg Yoder

Ordinary Time // Part 2 // Week 11 // Nov. 13-19

Hear the birds as they sing night’s song offering
As the world slips into her rest
Hear the wind as she hums
As soft moonlight comes
Singing birds to their nests

We’re awed by the beauty
Awed by the beauty
The world sings to you.
We turn our ears, too. And we sing

Holy, Holy, Holy One
Setting the stars, shaping the sun
Waves, trees and sand
Are the work of your hands
Holy, Holy, Holy One
Your song before time had begun
We listen and hear
Your heartbeat so near
To us.

See the dawn pirouette
Wheat waltzing, still wet
With dew’s kiss on the ground and
See the streams leap and run
Giving chase to the sun
As they dance down the mountain

We’re awed by the beauty
Awed by the beauty
The world dances for you
We want to dance, too. And we sing

Holy, Holy, Holy One
Setting the stars, shaping the sun
Waves, trees and sand
Are the work of your hands
Holy, Holy, Holy One
You, before time had begun
We look and we see
Your heartbeat so near
To us.

Lyrics: Seth Thomas Crissman and Greg Yoder, 2022 // Music: Seth Thomas Crissman, Greg Yoder, and Nichole Barrows, 2022 // Vocals: Nichole Barrows and Kristina Yoder

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Ordinary Time // Part 2 // Week 10 // Nov. 6-12

Be known to us in breaking bread,
But do not then depart;
Savior abide with us, and spread
Thy table in our heart

Bread of heaven on thee we feed
For you sustain us and are all we need.
Ever may our souls be fed
With this true and living bread;

There sup with us in love divine;
Thy Body and Thy blood,
That living bread, that heav’nly wine Be our immortal food.

Bread of heaven on thee we feed
For you sustain us and are all we need.
Ever may our souls be fed
With this true and living bread;

O let our lives be rooted in thee
To thy cross we look and live.
This blessed cup of sacrifice.
‘Tis thou salvation gives.

Bread of heav’n, fruit of the vine
For you sustain us, turning water into wine
Ever may our souls be fed
With this true and living bread

Lyrics: Josiah Conder, 1824 (alt.) and James Montgomery, 1825 (alt.); // Music: Greg Yoder and Seth Crissman, 2022 // Vocals:. Rachel Mast, Kristina Yoder, and Jackson Maust

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Ordinary Time // Part 2 // Week 9 // Oct. 30 - Nov. 5

Make me a captive, Lord, and then I shall be free
Lead me to render up my sword, and I will conqueror be
I sink in life’s alarms when by myself I stand
But you hold me within your arms, and strong shall be my hand

My heart is weak and poor, ‘til it a captain finds
It has no compass, floats unmoored, and sinks into the brine
It cannot freely move ‘til you have forged its chain
Anchored to your matchless love, deathless it shall reign

My power is faint and low ‘til I have learned to serve
It wants the needed fire to glow, it wants the breeze to nerve
It cannot drive the world until itself be driven
Its flag can only be unfurled when you have breathed from heaven

My will is not my own ‘til you have made it yours
If it would move the hearts of stone, it must their powers abhor It only stands unbent, amid the clashing strife
When on your bosom it has lent, and found in you its life

Lyrics: George Matheson, 1890 (alt.) // Music: Greg Yoder, 2022 // Vocals: Greg Yoder, Taylor Bess, and Valerie Bess

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Ordinary Time // Part 2 // Week 8 // Oct. 23-29

O children of Zion,
be glad and rejoice in the LORD your God;
Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.

Lyrics: direct quotation of Joel 2:23a, 28 (NRSV) // Music: Seth Thomas Crissman, 2022 // Vocals: Lisa Quiñones, Kristina Yoder, and Greg Yoder

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Ordinary Time // Part 2 // Week 7 // Oct. 16-22

Praise to God, immortal praise,
For the love that crowns our days
Bounteous Source of every joy,
Let thy praise our tongues employ
For the blessings of the field,
For the stores the gardens yield
For the joy which harvests bring,
Grateful praises now we sing

Flocks that whiten all the plain,
Yellow sheaves of ripened grain
All that spring with bounteous hand,
Scatters o’er the smiling land
All that gen’rous autumn pours,
From her overflowing stores
These, great God, to thee we owe,
Source whence all our blessings flow

But Lord, should rising whirlwinds tear,
From the stem it’s ripening ear
Should the fig tree’s bloss’ming shoot,
Drop her green untimely fruit
Should the vine put forth no more,
Nor the olive yield her store
Though the sick’ning flocks should fall,
And the herds desert the stall
Should thy holy hand restrain,
Th’early and the latter rain
Blast each op’ning bud of joy,
And the rising year destroy
Should the vine put forth no more,
Nor the olive yield her store
Should the rising whirlwinds come,
and tear the song from out our lungs

Yet to thee my soul shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise
And when every blessing’s flown
Love thee for thyself alone

Lyrics: Anna Barbauld, 1772 // Music: Greg Yoder, 2015 // Vocals: Ben Luna, Kristina Yoder, and Greg Yoder

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Ordinary Time // Part 2 // Week 6 // Oct. 9-15

Love
Your love, your love, O God
Love
Your love, your love, O God
And you surround us
With your love, O God

Hope
Your hope, your hope, O God
Hope
Your hope, your hope, O God
You came and found us
And you surround us
With your hope, O God

And we will praise
We will praise you
All our days
For you are good.

Peace
Your peace, your peace, O God
Peace
Your peace, your peace, O God
Peace for the mourning
And in the storming
Your peace, O God

And we will praise
We will praise you
And we will praise
We will praise you
All our days
For you are good.

Love
Your love, your love, O God
Love
Your love, your love, O God
It’s all around us
all around us

Music and lyrics: Seth Thomas Crissman, 2022 // Vocals: Seth Crissman, Nichole Barrows, and Jackson Maust

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Ordinary Time // Part 2 // Week 4 // Sept. 25-Oct. 1

Happy are those
whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God,
Happy are those
whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God, Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God,
who executes justice
for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free;

Happy are those
whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God,
Happy are those
whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God,
The LORD their God

Happy are those
Happy are those

the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the strangers;
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

Happy are those
Happy are those

Lyrics: direct quotation of Psalm 146:5-9a (NRSV), 2022 // Music: Seth Thomas Crissman and Joel Ross, 2022 // Vocals: Good Company (Heidi King – Soprano; Melodie May – Soprano; Sarah Brenneman – Alto; Joel Ross – Tenor; Kevin Eby – Baritone; Nathan May – Bass)

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Ordinary Time // Part 2 // Week 3 // Sept. 18-24

For this food, for this day
For your love we want to say
Thank you, God, thank you, God
AMEN!

For our family and friends
For your love that never ends
Thank you, God, thank you, God
AMEN!

For the trees, for the birds
For your your Son and your Word
Thank you God, thank you, God
AMEN!

God, you are good
And so we thank you everyday
God, you are good
And this is what we pray

For this food, for this day
For your love we want to say
Thank you, God, thank you, God
AMEN!

Lyrics: Seth Thomas Crissman and Greg Yoder, 2022 // Music: Greg Yoder, 2022 // Vocals: Emily Grimes, Greg Yoder, and Kristina Yoder

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Ordinary Time // Part 2 // Week 2 // Sept. 11-17

For the tired and alone
And the far away from home
For the angry and for the afraid
For those who can’t fall asleep
The Shepherd will keep you
And loves you; you’re never alone.

Peace, peace God, give us peace
We cannot make peace on our own
Through the day and the night You will always provide.
You love us; we’re never alone

Lyrics: Seth Thomas Crissman and Greg Yoder, 2022 // Music: Seth Thomas Crissman, 2022 // Vocals: Spectator Bird

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When the SEED finds good SOIL, life GROWS.