Grace! 'tis a charming sound,
harmonious to the ear.
- Philip Doddridge -
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you;
that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things,
may abound to every good work.
- 2 Corinthians 9:8 -
Enjoy the music while you read the beloved words
of this well-known hymn.
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.
T'was grace that taught
my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed!
Thru many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'tis grace hath brought us safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures.
When we've been here ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun,
we've no less days to sing God's praise
than when we'd first begun.
- John Newton -
And of his fulness have all we received,
and grace for grace.
For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
- John 1:16-17 -
The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase.
But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
so that, just as sin reigned in death,
so also grace might reign through righteousness
to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD.
- Romans 5:20-21 -
Calling himself a "wretch" who was lost and blind,
John Newton recalled leaving school at the age of eleven
to begin a life as a rough, debauched seaman.
Eventually he engaged in the despicable practice of capturing natives
from West Africa to be sold as slaves to markets around the world.
But one day the grace of God put fear into the heart
of this wicked slave trader through a fierce storm.
Greatly alarmed and fearful of a shipwreck,
Newton began to read The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A. Kempis.
God used this book to lead him to a genuine conversion
and a dramatic change in his way of life.
Feeling a definite call to study for the ministry,
Newton was encouraged and greatly influenced
by John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield.
At the age of thirty-nine, John Newton became an ordained minister
of the Anglican church to the little village of Olney,
near Cambridge, England.
To add further impact to his powerful preaching,
Newton introduced simple heartfelt hymns
rather than the usual psalms in his services.
Until the time of his death at the age of eighty-two,
John Newton never ceased to marvel at the grace of God
that transformed him so completely.
Shortly before his death he is quoted as proclaiming
with a loud voice during a message,
"My memory is nearly gone,
but I remember two things:
That I am a great sinner
That I am a great sinner
and that Christ is a great Savior!"
What amazing grace!
- Amazing Grace - Kenneth W. Osbeck -
Saved by grace alone!
This is my plea:
Jesus died for all mankind,
And Jesus died for me.
- Philip Doddridge -
Have a blessed Lord's Day,
sweet friends!