For the second Sunday in Lent, Rev. Cari preached on Grace. The text was Romans 4:1-5 and 13-17, in which Paul discusses Abraham and Sarah. Cari used a translation from her New Testament professor at VST, the late Dr. Lloyd Gaston, which emphasizes the “faithfulness of God” much more than conventional understandings.

She also referred to the hymn, of course, and the congregation sang it following the sermon. Early in the sermon, she tells the story of John Henry Newton, the former slave ship captain who wrote the words, and referred back to his story at the end of the sermon.