"Wide-Eyed Wonder Part 2" 12/23/25

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

Theology and Doxology are not opposites but twins. The study of God (theology) and the worship of God (doxology) should not be separated.

David prayed to God "I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules."(Psalm 119:7) 

The knowledge of God's ways was His call to worship God.

For this reason, I encourage you to study the Word in this and every season, to meditate on the person of Christ and His work and respond in prayer and song. Study the Word to know and enjoy Christ. Study to sing.

An example of theology informing our worship

Prepared by Thomas Cranmer in 1549 for use in the services of the Church of England the Advent Collect is a short formal prayer used by the Anglican Church in preparation for Christmas.

The collect is as follows:

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The prayer request is simple, "give us grace..." What makes the prayer unique is how Cranmer set this request for present grace against the backdrop of Jesus' two comings. These twin truths that Jesus came "in great humility" and "shall come again in his glorious majesty" frame everything that happens in between. Our Savior has come for the forgiveness of sins and will come again to judge the world and deliver his people finally and completely (for more on this read Hebrews 9:24-28.

Such a perspective, shaped by the Scriptures' own testimony, changes the very way in which we live. Humility, Boldness, Assurance, Joy, and Peace all flow downstream of this kind of theology. 

So may we all move from theology to worship in this season and let the truth of Christ dwell in us richly and renew us within, Amen.

Merry Christmas from my house to yours.

Grace & Peace,

Matt