Bright Shining as the Sun

“The hymns we sing often tell the story of our salvation.  Their words and music celebrate the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  Some hymns tell of our life in Christ and may reflect the experiences of those who wrote them.  Written in 1772, first sung in public on January 1, 1773, and then published in 1779, the hymn “Amazing Grace” reflects the astonishment of its author, John Newton, as he considered the grace in his life: “Amazing grace!  How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!”  The grace of God is amazing.  Grace is God’s undeserved favor for sinners.  We are not saved because of our own good works or our efforts to please God.  God chose us in Christ to be his own “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).  He chose us before we were born, before he even created the world.  That is amazing!”

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