John Newton was a slave trader in the 18th century, but after a fierce storm on the sea, he came to faith in Jesus. After being a pastor for many years, he became a staunch abolitionist and wrote “Amazing Grace”. In the hymn he refers to the weight of great sin lifted by God’s great love and mercy for us even though we deserve nothing. Just God’s amazing grace is more than enough for us… I believe that is why the hymn has remained so relevant and well known through time.

But today I had the privilege of seeing what God can do with our confessions and acknowlgement of His goodness. Mercy Ships has a program called “Onboarding” that trains long term crew. Anyone coming to live on the ship for more than 10 months must complete it. Today the onboarding team from the West Africa region came to lead worship and teach. Of course the worship was amazing and I got to dance… a lot.

But we also sang “Broken Vessels” by Hillsong. As we sang,

“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…”

I was suddenly struck with how John Newton would feel in this moment… standing in a ship on a coast where men and women were ripped from their homes and sold into slavery. Yet here and now, worship led by West African men and women of God smiling and singing his own hymn of repentance and God’s great love.

I imagine it would be enough to make a man fall on his face in worship of an incredibly good God. I suddenly felt so humbled to see just a glimpse of the redemption and healing God can bring from our confession.

“I can see it now… I can see the love in Your eyes… laying Yourself down… raising up the broken to life.”