Worship Set 8 - "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)"

November, a month and season of reflection and thanksgiving.  A time when we can look back over the year and give thanks for the blessings in our lives.  We have so much to be grateful for.  From the clothes that we wear to the cars we drive and homes we live in.  Our lives have been abundantly blessed.  However, as believers, we have an extra layer of blessing.  We know and believe that we have been redeemed and ransomed.  We are no longer slaves to sin but children of God.  And that is something to give thanks for!
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Over the past few months, we have been on a worship journey praising God for His power, greatness, and majesty and worshipping Jesus for what He’s done for us.  Now, it’s time to give thanks.  Now, it’s time to respond to all that we know and have learned.  It’s time to surrender our lives as a living sacrifice of thanksgiving and worship.
 
Therefore, this month our worship focus is going to be our heartfelt response to God’s amazing love.  Our posture of gratitude for all that He has done for us.  Our ongoing decision to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  And to start this off, our focus song is one that will serve to remind us of what we have been given through the grace and mercy of God.
 
The original hymn “Amazing Grace” was written by former slave trader, John Newton, in the 1800s.  This crusty sea captain’s heart had been seared by the deceptiveness of sin.  His profession was holding fellow human beings in bondage and transporting them to lives of endless slavery.  His conscience was dead from lack of use, but God broke through.  Though Newton seemed to be too far gone, God broke his chains of hardness and cruelty and gave Him new life through Christ.  And John Newton accepted this free gift. 
 
The past could not be changed, but it could be forgiven.  And in his sunset years, Newton came to realize this and wrote a beautiful song that has inspired and spoken to millions over the years.  Strains and lines of this timeless hymn have been used to form new songs because the message never grows old.  

“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.”
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​In 2008, Chris Tomlin added an inspiring bridge to this already powerful anthem.  It has become one of my favorites.  So as we enter a month of reflection and thanksgiving of all that God has done for us, may this song richly bless and inspire you, enriching your personal worship.  Here’s “Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)” by John Newton and Chris Tomlin.

"Amazing Grace
(My Chains Are Gone)"
by John Newton and Chris Tomlin

Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

My chains are gone, I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love,
Amazing grace

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

My chains are gone, I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love,
Amazing grace

My chains are gone, I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love,
Amazing grace

​The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God who called me here below
Will be forever mine, will be forever mine
You are forever mine