We ended the service last week singing Amazing Grace. Do you know the story of that hymn writer, John Newton?
Raised in England, he had a godly mother, but he rejected her counsel. He grew up rebellious and ended up getting involved in the slave trade—this was the 18th century—in fact he ended up captaining slave ships. This was a man whose life was marked by swearing, gambling, fighting and cruelty.
But in 1748, on the way back to England on a ship, there was a violent storm, and the ship almost sank, loads of others died, abut he didn’t. It was then that Newton started to pray. The storm stopped, and Newton survived. This was the beginning of his walk with God.
Newton started reading the Bible, he began reading the words of Christians, and by the time he was back on land, he was a changed man. Over time, after much involvement with church, the same things that had started to happen to Saul began to happen to Newton. He preached. He became a voice against the slave trade that he was once part of. He had repented of his sins, he had become a part of a new family, and he now had a new calling.
