A St. Sinner Christmas 12/13/25

1. We all want to be loved;
we're afraid to be alone.
We offer up our souls, but still it's not enough.
Our need, it only grows.
We're terrified of being left alone
with nothing but this hole: sinking like a stone.
Sinking like a stone, sinking like a stone.

2. We all want to be loved,
but we're afraid of being known.
Naked and exposed, we'll always hide ourselves.
So don't get too close; the intimacy's too much.
We're vulnerable to touch;
it opens wide the soul: sinking like a stone.
Sinking like a stone, sinking like a stone.

3. We all want to be loved;
we're afraid we'll disappear.
Love, pain, and fear are better than nothing at all.
We all feel the void. We're all hanging on
for dear life, lest we fall
into those dark jaws: sinking like a stone.
Sinking like a stone, sinking like a stone.

Sinking like a stone,
sinking like a stone,
sinking like a stone.
We all want to be loved, but we're afraid. . .

1. Have you lost faith?
Have you lost heart?
Has what is left grown tired and hard?
Has it been hard?
Has it been long?
Has it been going on and on?

Would it kill you
to not treat the toothpaste
like something you were trying to strangle?

2. Has it gone too far?
Has it gone too wrong?
Has it just worn you down?
Are you left with rage
when all your love is gone?
Are you left with nothing left at all?

Would it kill you
to not treat the toothpaste
like something you were trying to strangle?

Are you left with nothing left at all?

1. Are there any more songs worth singing?
Any new ways of saying the same thing?
Or should I save my breath
for those who've said it best?

'Cause the rhythms and the rhymes keep repeating.
With each song my chances more fleeting
that I'll find a chord
that hasn't been used before.

One of a kind, like a snowflake,
but I feel myself melting away.
Dissolved into river and rain,
it starts again.
And again.

2. Who put the salt in the ocean?
Did the waves taste the tears of the fallen?
We've been breathing the same air since Adam;
should I find that a comfort, or tragic?

Give me a second wind.
I need a second wind.

3. What has been done will be done again.
The weary world sighs and spins on again.
Just let me catch my breath
and maybe get some rest.

4. When we're born, we're grasping and screaming,
and we die with a sigh of relief,
and all that time that we spend in between,
we are just searching for some kind of meaning.

Oh, give me a second wind.
I need a second wind.
I need a second wind.

1. St. Valentine, can you share a little wisdom?
You were chaste, but love's your business.
It's your day, but it's my daily burden.
My love and I, we have our holiday traditions,
like the way we ruin Christmas and anniversaries
over stupid things like the dishes.
It's never perfect.

It's never perfect.
It's never perfect.

2. St. Valentine, do you take prayers from weary lovers
who aren't looking for another,
but wonder how they turned into business partners or brothers?
Why does love seem so perfect at a distance?
Does the consummation kill it?
Wondering if it's worth it,
when it's never perfect.

It's never perfect.
It's never perfect.

3. St. Valentine, you were a saint, but I'm a sinner.
I pray the pain of love won't kill me,
but I'm afraid that prayer's not working.
It's never perfect.

It's never perfect.
It's never perfect.
It's never perfect.

1. Strange angels in the sky
interrupt this lonely night
singing peace on earth
but what that's worth
when they sing it from the sky?

2. No angel will ever know
what it's like living below.
They sing of birth
but that just means more hurt
as another woman cries.

Born under a silent star,
live under a silent star,
die under a silent star,
a million miles away.

3. 2,000 years passed since that night
and the only light that fills the sky
are rockets' red glare
and bombs bursting in air
under the gaze of satellite
above this maze with restless eye.

Born under a silent star,
live under a silent star,
die under a silent star,
a million miles away.
A silent star, while the angels sing:

Gloria, gloria in excelsis Deo.

1. It's coming on Christmas.
They're cutting down trees.
They're putting up reindeer
and singing songs of joy and peace.

Oh, I wish I had a river
I could skate away on.

2. But it doesn't snow here.
It stays pretty green.
I'm going to make a lot of money,
then I'm going to quit this crazy scene.

Oh, I wish I had a river
I could skate away on.
I wish I had a river so long
I would teach my feet to fly.
Oh, I wish I had a river
I could skate away on.

3. He tried hard to help me,
you know, he put me at ease.
And he loved me so naughty,
made me weak in the knees.

Oh, I wish I had a river
I could skate away on.

4. I'm so hard to handle.
I'm selfish and I'm sad.
And now I've lost the best baby
that I ever had.

Oh, I wish I had a river
I could skate away on.
I wish I had a river so long
I would teach my feet to fly.
Oh, I wish I had a river
I could skate away.

It's coming on Christmas.
They're cutting down trees.
They're putting up reindeer
and singing songs of joy and peace.

Oh, I wish I had a river
I could skate away on.

1. I am tired and so weary, but I must toil on
'til the Lord comes to call me away
where the morning is bright,
and the Lamb is the light,
and the night is as fair as the day.

There will be peace in the valley for me someday,
there will be peace in the valley for me, I pray.
No more sorrow and sadness, or trouble will be.
There will be peace in the valley for me.

2. There the bear will be gentle, and the wolf will be tame,
and the lion will lay down with the lamb.
And the beast from the wild will be led by a child,
and I'll be changed from the creature I am.

There will be peace in the valley for me someday,
there will be peace in the valley for me, I pray.
No more sorrow and sadness, or trouble will be.
There will be peace in the valley for me.

1. Away from the manger they ran for their lives.
The crying boy Jesus, a son they must hide.
A dream came to Joseph, they fled in the night.

And they ran, and they ran, and they ran.
And they ran, and they ran, and they ran.

2. No stars in the sky, but the Spirit of God
led down into Egypt from Herod to hide.
No place for his parents, no country or tribe.

And they ran, and they ran, and they ran.
And they ran, and they ran, and they ran.

3. Stay near me, Lord Jesus, when danger is nigh,
and keep us from Herods and all of their lies.
I love thee, Lord Jesus, my Refugee King.

And we sing, and we sing, and we sing.
And we sing, and we sing, and we sing.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

1. Arizona sounds great on a winter day,
but I'd miss all the magic of a snowflake.
Warm and sunny every day has its charms, I guess,
but I still love the way the seasons change.

2. As the fire of autumn leaves begins to freeze
and the sun shines so bright upon the city's streets.
Oh, the air may be brisk— I don't mind a bit
when I think of the warm home waiting for me.

Don't you miss it in the Mitten?
You know your home will always be here.
(Why don't you come back this year?)
Don't you miss it in the Mitten?
Come back for Christmas in Michigan.

1. Joy to the world; the Lord is come;
let Earth receive her King;
let every heart prepare him room,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

2. Joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns;
let men their songs employ,
while fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

3. No more let sins and sorrows grow,
nor thorns infest the ground;
he comes to make his blessings flow
far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found,
far as, far as the curse is found.

4. He rules the world with truth and grace,
and makes the nations prove
the glories of his righteousness,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders, wonders of his love.

1. Open up your heart, come and lift your voice;
let a new song resonate with joy.
For the hand of God has reached down to save,
and our hearts were born to give him praise.

Let the hills sing out for joy,
the oceans roar, the rivers rejoice,
for he comes to judge the earth in righteousness.
Let us join with all creation
singing our Savior's victory song,
for he comes to earth as King!

2. For the mystery is at last revealed;
let the nations gather and be healed.
In our God's great love all the earth's restored;
make a joyful noise unto the Lord.

Let the hills sing out for joy,
the oceans roar, the rivers rejoice,
for he comes to judge the earth in righteousness.
Let us join with all creation
singing our Savior's victory song,
for he comes to earth as King!

1. Arise, O King of grace, arise,
and enter to your rest:
lo, your church waits with longing eyes
thus to be known and blessed.

2. Enter with all your glorious train,
your Spirit and your Word;
all that the ark did once contain
could no such grace afford.

O Savior, come! Take up your throne.
O Savior, dwell with us.
O Savior, come! Make us your home.
O Savior, dwell in us.

3. Here, mighty God, accept our vows;
here let your praise be spread;
bless the provisions of your house,
and fill your poor with bread.

O Savior, come! Take up your throne.
O Savior, dwell with us.
O Savior, come! Make us your home.
O Savior, dwell in us.

4. Here, let the Son of David reign,
let God's anointed shine;
justice and truth his court maintain,
with love and power divine.

O Savior, come! Take up your throne.
O Savior, dwell with us.
O Savior, come! Make us your home.
O Savior, dwell in us.

5. Here let him hold a lasting throne;
and, as his kingdom grows,
fresh honors shall adorn his crown,
and shame confound his foes.

O Savior, come! Take up your throne.
O Savior, dwell with us.
O Savior, come! Make us your home.
O Savior, dwell in us.

1. My soul magnifies the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God!
My Savior has seen his servant in need,
and behold the great things he has done:

2. He scatters the proud and rich;
he lifts up the humble and weak.
The kings of the earth,
he casts from their thrones,
and the hungry he welcomes to feast.

Oh behold, my Savior has come!
And my soul will tell of his praise—
for he who is strong has come to the weak,
and at last he will reign as our King of Peace!

3. From now to the end of time
the nations will know me as blest.
For God has made new his promise of love
and mercy through Abraham's seed.

Oh behold, my Savior has come!
And my soul will tell of his praise—
for he who is strong has come to the weak,
and at last he will reign as our King of Peace!

1. Long in darkness Israel wandered;
long in mortal shadows, we
walked in bondage and self-pity,
trod in paths of sin and grief.
In the prophets' words he told us,
long the God of Israel spoke;
he alone in strength would save us
from the hands of all our foes.

Every valley be exalted!
Every mountain be made plain!
Crooked ways repent and straighten;
all creation bend in praise!

2. He shall raise a mighty Savior;
born of David's lineage he
comes in covenant love to claim us
from our sins to set us free.
Light to those who dwell in darkness.
Life to those from death who flee.
Joy unto the earth and gladness,
to your pathways dawning peace!

Every valley be exalted!
Every mountain be made plain!
Crooked ways repent and straighten;
all creation bend in praise!

3. Jesus, Lord, and mighty Savior,
David's Son and yet his King,
dawning light of our salvation,
of your saving power we sing!
Stand, oh lame, and dance, ye broken.
Know the Savior's healing grace.
Come, oh deaf, and hear him singing;
turn, oh blind, behold his face!

Every valley be exalted!
Every mountain be made plain!
Crooked ways repent and straighten;
all creation bend in praise!

1. Once in royal David’s city
stood a lowly cattle shed,
where a mother laid her baby
in a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.

2. He came down to earth from heaven
who is God and Lord of all,
and His shelter was a stable,
and His cradle was a stall:
with the poor, and meek, and lowly,
lived on earth our Savior holy.

3. Jesus is our childhood's pattern;
day by day like us he grew.
He was little, weak, and helpless,
tears and smiles like us he knew.
And he feels for all our sadness,
and he shares in all our gladness.

4. And our eyes at last shall see him
through his own redeeming love;
for that Child, so dear and gentle,
is our Lord in heaven above.
And he leads his children on
to the place where he is gone.

1. Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King:
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th'angelic hosts proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"

Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

2. Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold him come,
offspring of the Virgin's womb:
veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th'incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Immanuel.

Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

3. Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.

Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!
Come, and behold Him, born the King of angels!

O come, let us adore Him;
O come, let us adore Him;
O come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!

2. Sing, choirs of angels; sing in exultation;
sing, all ye citizens of heav'n above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest!

O come, let us adore Him;
O come, let us adore Him;
O come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!

3. Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be all glory giv'n!
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing!

O come, let us adore Him;
O come, let us adore Him;
O come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!

1. Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming
from tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse's lineage coming,
as men of old have sung.
It came, a blossom bright,
amid the cold of winter
when half-spent was the night.

2. Isaiah 'twas foretold it,
the Rose I have in mind.
With Mary we behold it,
the virgin mother kind.
To show God's love aright
she bore to us a Savior
when half-spent was the night.

3. O Flower, whose fragrance tender,
with sweetness fills the air,
dispels with glorious splendor
the darkness everywhere.
True man, yet very God,
from sin and death now save us,
and share our every load.