Advent Homilies

by John Newton, S. Mark Hamilton (Editor), Rhys Laverty (Editor)

John Newton (1725-1807) is one of church history's most famous preachers and hymn writers. His dramatic conversion from slave trader to Church of England rector and friend of the great abolitionist William Wilberforce has captured the imagination of Christians for centuries, as has the hymn which testifies to this story, "Amazing Grace". In 1784, a huge commemoration was held in London to mark twenty-five years since the death of the great composer Georg Friedrich Handel. This involved a grand production of his famous Messiah at Westminster Abbey, which attracted hundreds and became the talk of the town. Ever the evangelist, Newton seized upon the occasion and preached fifty sermons working his way through each of the biblical passages which Handel had put to music, expounding their true meaning and applying them to the hearts of his flock. Combining tender pastoral care and rich theological reflection, this selection of twelve of Newton's sermons on the Messiah is a perfect way to dwell upon the glory of Christ, our Messiah, during this Advent season.

167 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 20, 2025

About the author

Librarian Note: This profile contains more than one author. Those listed below have multiple books listed on GoodReads.

John Newton (2 spaces): Australian, multiple genres: travel, cookbooks, history
John Newton (3 spaces): 1725-1807, English reverend, wrote Amazing Grace
John Newton (4 spaces): GRs author, novels
John Newton (5 spaces): New Zealander poet
John Newton (6 spaces): American Episcopal priest
John Newton (7 spaces): American sci-fi author, Avar-Tek short stories
John Newton (8 spaces): writes non-fiction about Kenyan police forces
John Newton (9 spaces): photographer
John Newton (10 spaces): 1622-1678, English mathematician and astronomer
John Newton (11 spaces): Print on demand that are not 3 or 10 spaces

Reviews

[Jordan Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent content.

Historical context: A sampling of a greater work by Newton when he preached 50 sermons on the relevant scripture texts of Handel’s “Messiah”. The concert was held at Westminster Abbey around the 25th anniversary of Handel’s death (I believe - I’m working from memory here - always scary).

Truly a sublime exposition of the scriptures. Knowledge of Newton’s own life and conversion add gravitas and power to the exposition of the word. His pastoral heart shines through every exhortation. This is a glorious example of consistent, clear, and compelling exposition of the word of God brought to bear on the heart’s of God’s people. Modern pastors would do well to study this work.

Side bar: Davenant needs a new (more) copy editor(s) and proofreader(s). There are many mistakes. If anyone from Davenant cares - I catalogued approximately 15 mistakes. The most glaring is the misquotation of a scripture reference in a chapter title - p97 is quoted as Luke 9:2 and should be Isaiah 9:2.

[Richard Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent, edifying reflections on the coming of the Messiah.

Not as profound as the selection from Augustine in the earlier entry to this series.