A Different Lineage

Verse 1 They told me I belong here by the blood that I was born in, by the soil beneath my feet, by the flag that I was raised in, by the name above the doorway where my family sat for years— but a name is not a lineage, and a banner calms no fears. Verse 2 But the house I'm joined to, truly, has a different root and stone: built on the prophets and apostles, Christ Himself the cornerstone. Not the soil of any country, not the line of any crown— a people from every nation who have laid their own names down. Pre-Chorus Born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. Not a birthright that I was handed— a new birth, from above, by the Word. Chorus My heritage is the Word once delivered, the apostles' teaching, the bread and the prayer, the saints who would not bow to Caesar, who counted the cost and were found still there. Faithful unto death, they received the crown. I walk the road the slaughtered ones have trod— not a nation, not a name, not a bloodline, but the Lamb, and all who follow where He goes. Verse 3 They were thrown to the beasts in the arena, they were burned for the name that they bore, they were drowned in the rivers and the dungeons, and they loved not their lives any more. Stephen saw the heavens open while the stones came down like rain. That is the line I was grafted into— not the comfort, but the pain. Pre-Chorus Born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. Not a birthright that I was handed— a new birth, from above, by the Word. Chorus My heritage is the Word once delivered, the apostles' teaching, the bread and the prayer, the saints who would not bow to Caesar, who counted the cost and were found still there. Faithful unto death, they received the crown. I walk the road the slaughtered ones have trod— not a nation, not a name, not a bloodline, but the Lamb, and all who follow where He goes. Bridge Seeing we're compassed by a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside each weight and sin. Remember those who spoke the Word to us. Consider how they finished, and begin to imitate the faith they carried— Jesus Christ, the same through all the years, yesterday, today, and forever— the One who has been faithful here. Chorus My heritage is the Word once delivered, the apostles' teaching, the bread and the prayer, the saints who would not bow to Caesar, who counted the cost and were found still there. Faithful unto death, they received the crown. I walk the road the slaughtered ones have trod— not a nation, not a name, not a bloodline, but the Lamb, and all who follow where He goes. Chorus (final — hold the last line) My heritage is the Word once delivered, the apostles' teaching, the bread and the prayer, the saints who would not bow to Caesar, who counted the cost and were found still there. Faithful unto death, they received the crown. I walk the road the slaughtered ones have trod— not a nation, not a name, not a bloodline, but the Lamb, and all who follow where He goes.