Amazing Grace

John Newton, as a little boy, learned of this same truth and would give the world a song that has been around for over two hundred and twenty years. This is the story of how God’s grace saved another soul and set the world singing. John Newton was born in London in the year 1725. His father was a sea captain. His mother was a devout Christian woman who, realizing that an illness she had would take her life within a short time, taught her son to know the Bible at an early age. When John was seven, his mother died. He went to sea with his father when he was eleven; and by the time he was seventeen, he was in the British Royal Navy on a man-ofwar ship. During this time, John drifted far from the teachings of his mother. With each passing year, he sank deeper into the pit of sin. First, he was a sailor on a slave ship.

Eventually, he was a captain, transporting slaves from Africa to ports where they could be sold for the best prices. Finally, one stormy night on a waterlogged ship in 1748, with the main mast broken in two, John Newton came face to face with the God of his childhood Bible learning. Then and there, John was saved from his darkest sins.

John’s life was changed forever. He abandoned the sea, settled in Liverpool and married Mary Catlett. Soon, John felt God’s call on his life to preach; and preach he did, securing an appointment to the parish church at Olney, England. To add a special touch to his messages, John would close with poetic verse that he would compose. On a Sunday morning, in 1779, Pastor Newton closed his heart-warming message with an original poem about God’s grace or as John called it, “His Amazing Grace.” That same grace changed my life and can change yours too, if you will let it.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found Was blind, but now I see.

The Bible states, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10