As the former police officer and youth leader who wrote the music, lyrics, and libretto for the Broadway musical Amazing Grace, Christopher Smith shares the incredible story of how it came to be, starting with two words of encouragement from his wife–“Do it,”
Chris talks about randomly picking a book from a shelf in a library in 1997, hoping to find inspiration for a youth talk, and being awakened to the life of John Newton and the origin of the hymn “Amazing Grace.” He describes going home and telling his wife that Newton’s life is “The next Les Mis” and hearing her encouraging words, “I think you can do it“–despite his having never written anything professionally. Smith tells how he challenged her with the impossibility of the task and had thrown back at him the words he used to encourage his youth groups not to put God in a box.
Chris shares how the encouragement from his wife was a “tiny snowball” that over the course of 19 years became an “avalanche“. He describes encouragement as “the ultimate force multiplier in life” and “the lowest cost, highest yield investment in the history of the world.” Chris explains that encouragement can lead to things you could never imagine.
To illustrate, Smith tells the heartwarming story of a young woman he encouraged one day in church, how she returned years later to play a significant role in the Amazing Grace musical, and how, years later, God used her connections to bring the relaunch of Amazing Grace to a high school in Florida.
Quoting Ephesians 4:29 (“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen“), Chris shares and explains the three steps he uses in encouraging others:
- Evaluate
- Elevate
- Empower
Chris then talks about his current focus–Project Grace–and its three main projects: instituting a National Day of Grace on March 21, gamifying discipleship through a game called GraceQuest Interactive, and relaunching and filming a new youth-oriented Amazing Grace that will be available for all to watch and can be performed in schools throughout the country.
Smith ends with another heartwarming story of encouragement involving a multi-millionaire, a call from God, a battle with Alzheimer’s, a job that never ended, and a very special jacket.