This past Sunday was the second Sunday of Advent, and our songs were gathered with this in mind. Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Songs:
Like It Was Then by ubcmusic
Hope (There Will Come A Light) by ubcmusic
Peace (Change Everything) by ubcmusic
A Branch Shall Come by Jameson McGregor
This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent, and our songs were gathered with this in mind. Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Songs:
Hope (There Will Come A Light) by ubcmusic
Wayward Ones by The Gladsome Light
Afternoon Sun by Jameson McGregor
There by Jameson McGregor
Yesterday was the second Sunday of Advent. Our songs were gathered with this in mind. Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, you can find a brief example of one way you might think of these songs. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Songs:
Hope (There Will Come A Light) by ubcmusic
Peace (Change Everything) by ubcmusic
There by Jameson McGregor
Like It Was Then by Jameson McGregor
How They Fit In:
There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme.
Hope (There Will Come A Light): This song proclaims the coming of a fundamental shift to the world where the newborn cries of Light beat back the darkness that plagues our existence.
Peace (Change Everything): This song is plea for God to bring peace into the chaos of our world, from the systems within which we operate, to the cells that compose our bodies.
There: We sang this song to confess the transcendence of God, and to anchor ourselves to the peace of God in the midst of chaos.
Like It Was Then: This song grasps for some sort of reassurance that Advent hope is merited in our time.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week’s songs. This is what we said about O Come, O Come Emmanuel then: We sang this song to begin Lent with a plea for God to enter as a Light into our dark world.
Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos.
-JM
Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent. Our songs were gathered with this in mind. Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, you can find a brief example of one way you might think of these songs. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Songs:
Wayward Ones by The Gladsome Light
Afternoon Sun by Jameson McGregor
Hope (There Will Come A Light) by ubcmusic
How They Fit In:
There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel: We sang this song to begin Lent with a plea for God to enter as a Light into our dark world.
Wayward Ones: This is our communion hymn, and it contemplates Christ's self-giving love that is displayed and remembered in the eucharist.
Come Thou Fount: This song invites us to look back on who God has been for us in order to tune our hopes of who God will be for us, which is a primary theme of Advent.
Afternoon Sun: This song raises a question into the thin days of December of whether or not we will see mercy and truth meet, righteousness and peace kiss, and justice flow like a gushing stream, in the coming of Christ, and whether or not we would truly have eyes to see if something so monumental occurred.
Hope (There Will Come A Light): This song proclaims the coming of a fundamental shift to the world where the newborn cries of Light beat back the darkness that plagues our existence.
Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos.
-JM
Yesterday was the second week of Advent, and the songs were selected with that in mind. Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, you can find a brief example of one way you might think of these songs. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Songs:
Hope (There Will Come A Light) by ubcmusic
There by Jameson McGregor
Rise Up by BiFrost Arts
Peace (Change Everything) by ubcmusic
How They Fit In:
There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme.
Hope (There Will Come A Light): This song clings to the hope that God's inbreaking Kingdom will enter the darkness of our world of broken systems, bringing justice to the oppressed.
There: This song proclaim's God's transcendence over and above every source of anxiety in the world, and clings to God as an anchor in the midst of the uncertainty and noise of life.
Rise Up: This song proclaim's God's immanent concern in the plight of the oppressed and marginalized.
Peace (Change Everything): This song pleads for God to bring peace into the dissonance and brokenness of the world, from the socio-political sphere to the cellular level.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs: We sang this song to enter into the part of our Story where the people of God were waiting on the Light to enter the darkness.
Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos.
-JM
Yesterday was the first week of Advent, and the songs were selected with that in mind. Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, you can find a brief example of one way you might think of these songs. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Songs:
SMS [Shine] by David Crowder* Band
Hope (There Will Come A Light) by ubcmusic
Wayward Ones by The Gladsome Light
How They Fit In:
There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel: We sang this song to enter into the part of our Story where the people of God were waiting on the Light to enter the darkness.
Come Thou Fount: We sang this song to give voice to our looking back at who God has been in order to calibrate our hope of who God will continue to be for us.
SMS [Shine]: This song offers us language to express what it is like to wait in the darkness hoping that God has not abandoned us.
Hope (There Will Come A Light): This song clings to the hope that God's inbreaking Kingdom will enter the darkness of our world of broken systems, bringing justice to the oppressed.
Wayward Ones: We sing this song every time we take communion to remind ourselves of a couple of things. First, we are a broken people--though we are seeking to become more like Jesus, we often fail at this. Second, Christ has given Himself for us despite our brokenness. We take communion to remember the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf, even though we did not, and do not, deserve it.
Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos.
-JM
This week was the fourth Sunday of Advent, and our songs were gathered with this in mind. Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, you can find recordings from Sunday morning of a few of them, and below the recordings, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Songs:
Hope (There Will Come A Light) by ubcmusic
Joy (Brightest) by ubcmusic
Peace (Change Everything) by ubcmusic
Love (Gladdening Light) by ubcmusic
How They Fit In:
There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme.
Hope (There Will Come A Light): This song focuses on the hope of the coming of the Light, but hones in on what that means for the darkness around us--namely, the inauguration of its progressive demise. This song, as well as the rest of our original advent songs, is available for free download here.
Joy (Brightest): This song explores the kind of joy that we associate with Christmas. We take for granted that the wholesale change that Jesus brings about is something that we can be excited about. This song isn't claiming that we shouldn't be excited about, but instead that the joy that arises out of this moment might demand something of us--that perhaps everything we've ever looked to for comfort or for a standard of goodness/love is about to be shown up, and that in God's changing everything, we too will be changed. This song, as well as the rest of our original advent songs, is available for free download here.
Peace (Change Everything): This song is a plea for peace to come into our lives in a number of ways. The first verse asks when the night will be turned to day, a broad request for an answer to the uncertainties of life. The second verse wonders when our weapons and violence will have no place among us. The third verse longs for the dissolution of our worry and anxieties. And the fourth verse longs for a remedy for the existential concerns of death. Through the chorus, this song raises the question of how exactly God plans on addressing these problems, wondering what a solution would even look like--a king (some kind of leader or outside force to set things right? Or a new way to breathe (a new way to be human--a new way to live)? Neither? Both? But the heartbeat of the song is the plea that closes out each verse: "Oh God, bring peace." This song, as well as the rest of our original advent songs, is available for free download here.
Love (Gladdening Light): This song retraces the themes from the other three advent songs, and looks ahead to God's shining a light in our darkness. This song, as well as the rest of our original advent songs, is available for free download here.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel: As we near the end of the advent season, we sang this song to once again underscore our longing as we enter this final week leading up to Christmas.
Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos.
-JM
This week was the first Sunday of Advent, and our songs were gathered around the theme of Hope. Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, you can find recordings from Sunday morning of a few of them, and below the recordings, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Songs:
Rescue is Coming by David Crowder* Band
Hope (There Will Come A Light) by ubcmusic
Anthem by Leonard Cohen
Hope by Jameson McGregor
How They Fit In:
There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel: This song contrasts mourning/longing and hope especially well. We sang it to begin out time together by locating ourselves both with the people of God before the birth of Christ and with the whole of the people of God in our own time.
Rescue is Coming: We sang this song to proclaim the same desperate hope that we established in the first song. Though we may be able to look around and see how dark the world is, we are awaiting the coming of a Light. The "rescue" we talk about in this song is not one of escapism--it's one of an in-breaking that delivers us from the brokenness of creation, not creation itself.
Hope (There Will Come A Light): This song was written specifically for advent at ubc. It focuses on the hope of the coming of the Light, but hones in on what that means for the darkness around us--namely, the inauguration of its progressive demise. This song, as well as the rest of our original advent songs are available for free download here.
Anthem: Leonard Cohen had a way of capturing the essence of vulnerability and existential longing. This song is about hope, perseverance, brokenness, and beauty, all of which are prominent themes of advent. The hope we carry toward Christmas is a wounded one, and that makes it all the more meaningful.
Hope: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs. This is what we said about Hope then: This song voices the hope we have in Christ, the fire in the darkness. In this image that comes into the world through John 1, we find the most fundamental summation of the Christian story--God set a light in the darkness that the darkness did not overcome. Fire is more real than the darkness, such that there is no amount of darkness that can overcome the light of the fire.
Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos.
-JM
This week was the third week of Advent, and our songs were gathered around the theme of joy. Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Songs
All the Poor and Powerless by All Sons & Daughters
Hope (There Will Come A Light) by ubcmusic
Peace (Change Everything) by ubcmusic
Joy (Brightest) by ubcmusic
Make This Go On Forever (Refrain) by Snow Patrol
How They Fit In:
There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme.
All the Poor and Powerless: I've pointed out before that this song can come off as insubstantial and/or repetitive. The chorus basically just repeats "everyone will praise God," and the bridge basically just repeats "grab a megaphone and tell everyone who God is." I don't think there's any serious problem with the content of these lines, but their repetition feels like it drains their potency. But here's the thing. The verses of the songs create or portrait in which the people for whom this is good news are the poor, the feeble, the underrepresented, the depressed, the complacent, the ones at the end of their rope; and over/against these seemingly hopeless states of being, we find a God who has neither forgotten nor abandoned them. The hallelujah's of this song are what we might think of as "cold and broken hallelujah's"--praises that come from places we might not expect--and since these praises are directed toward the God who loves and is redeeming a fallen world, we find in this song a portrait of joy. This is the stubborn joy that comes along with fixing one's eyes on the faithfulness of God, that refuses to be swayed by our circumstances or our emotions. It's a joy that can coexist just fine in peace and in chaos, in contentment and depression.
Hope (There Will Come A Light): I wrote this song a couple of years ago for the first week of Advent. A few months ago, I wrote songs for all the other weeks, too, so we will sing the whole series of songs over the next few weeks. I recently recorded some video sessions of these songs with some friends in Austin. The video for this song has been posted here.
Peace (Change Everything): This is a song that voices a longing for peace. More accurately, this song voices a longing for several different kinds of peace: peace from existential despair, physical violence and threats, less tangible violence and threats that exist in our minds, and the threats that accompany the natural processes that carry our bodies from birth to death. We'll be singing this song a few more times this month, so feel free to listen to it again here.
Joy (Brightest): This song contemplates the strange nature of the joy we find in Advent--it's a joy that puts our feeble expectations of joy to shame in a way that might be considered destructive. The good news we await on Christmas day just might be bad news for certain aspects of ourselves. I've been more reserved in the descriptions I've offered of the Advent songs as a whole, and this has been intentional. I feel like you could take these songs in many different ways--especially when you take them all together--so I would prefer instead just to direct you to listen to these songs and read the lyrics and think about them for yourselves. As always, you can email me or comment at the bottom of the page if you want to talk about them further. The video of this song is available here.
Make This Go On Forever (Reprise): We once again closed this week's advent song with this reprise from the end of a great Snow Patrol song (spoiler alert: we'll do this next week and the week after as well). The point is to voice the longing that we live in during Advent: while we may not understand how it will happen or when it will happen, we know that God is the One who can save us from this present darkness.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel: We sang this song because of the way it marries rejoicing with the hope of peace/reconciliation, which incorporates every Advent theme through which we've journeyed thus far.
Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos.
-JM
This week was the first week of Advent, and our songs were gathered around the theme of hope. Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Songs
Deliver Me by David Crowder* Band
Rescue Is Coming by David Crowder* Band
Hope (There Will Come A Light) by Jameson McGregor
Make This Go On Forever (Refrain) by Snow Patrol
How They Fit In:
There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme.
Deliver Me: It can be difficult to think/sing about hope without naming any of the circumstances that would demand the looking-foward that comes with hope. This song was intended to open our time together with a hint of tension; a pleading for deliverance. While it provides few specifics we might categorize as the things from which we need saving, it does give us the chance to say at least 6 times, "I know that You're the One to pull me through." The Christian hope, the Advent hope, is not a vague kind of hope--it is a hope singularly focused on the faithfulness of God.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel: We sang this song to move from a plea for deliverance, and the acknowledgement that God is the One who is the object of our hope, to asking that God would come and save us--to enter into the darkness we call home and flood it with light.
Rescue Is Coming: We sang this song to put hope into our mouths, proclaiming that rescue is coming. This is a hope we can shout, but its also a hope we can live in--one we can carry with us without having to escape our every day lives. It's a hope that allows us to keep moving.
Hope (There Will Come A Light): I wrote this song a couple of years ago for the first week of Advent. A few months ago, I wrote songs for all the other weeks, too, so we will sing the whole series of songs over the next few weeks. I recently recorded some video sessions of these songs with some friends in Austin. The video for this song has been posted here.
Make This Go On Forever (Refrain): We attached this brief refrain to the end of the offering song because it seems to sum up the longing of advent exceptionally well.
Be Thou My Vision: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs. This is what we said about Be Thou My Vision then: We sang this song for a couple of reasons. First, we sang it to find language to offer along with the people of our congregation who shared their stories with us this week, asking for God's wisdom and presence with us. Second, we sang it to offer the words of the final stanza in light of Christ the King Sunday.
Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos.
-JM