3rd Advent Sunday Worship Service December 14, 2025

Prelude
Call to Worship Psalm 47:2
Lighting of the Advent Candle
Hymn JBC # 153 Lo, how a rose e’er blooming
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC #263 Hover o’er me, Holy Spirit
Offering
Scripture John 15:11~16
Prayer
Sermon “Joy of Christ”
Prayer
Hymn JBC# 379 We’ve a story to tell to the nations
Doxology JBC # 679
Benediction
Postlude

　

We are now in the 2025 Advent season. The year 2025 itself is also drawing to a close. In just half a month, we will welcome the new year.
Though the year changes, we who live by the hope found in Christ know that the blessings and hope of the Lord God will remain unchanged with us in the new year.
This is because we believe that God has promised us this unchanging blessing and hope through Jesus Christ, and we believe that our Lord God is faithful to His word and promises.
The New Testament in Titus 2:11-13 states the following:
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

The grace of God that brings salvation to all people is referring to the grace of Jesus Christ.
And the grace of Christ teaches us to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.
And God teaches us to wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ.
This Christmas, let us rejoice greatly, celebrate, and offer thanks to God for the birth of Jesus Christ—the very blessing and hope God has given us.
And let’s pray that this Christmas will renew our hope as we await the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will come again to this earth.

Today is the worship service for the Third Sunday of the Advent. The third Advent candle signifies “Joy.”
Today's verses are the words of Jesus Himself in John 15. In verse 11, Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
Jesus desires for us to be filled with joy, and He has given us everything necessary for that.
This world offers many joyful experiences. Many people may seem to live fulfilling, happy lives even if they don't attend church, read the Bible, or believe in God.
But Jesus tells us that for our joy to be completely fulfilled by an unshakable, certain hope, we absolutely need God's grace—the true, gracious word of God.
Only through God's word, and only by connecting with God, can our joy be fulfilled, overflowing, and an unchanging satisfaction be given to us.
At the beginning of this chapter 15, Jesus spoke, comparing Himself to the “vine.”

Jesus tells us that by remaining firmly connected to Him, the true vine, we will bear abundant fruit.
Being connected to the vine means being connected to the church, which is the body of Christ; being connected to one another (our family of faith, our companions) as branches of that same vine; and remaining spiritually connected to God through Scripture and prayer.
All who are connected to this vine—the church, which is the body of Christ—are nourished by Jesus' words, support one another, bear abundant fruit, and are filled with joy.
The source of our joy is the grace of Jesus Christ. And indeed, Jesus spoke to us through His words about many things.
In last week's sermon, I stated that during His earthly life, Jesus spoke everything He needed to say to His disciples and to us and left nothing out.
Because Jesus spoke every word necessary for our lives and for our joy to be fulfilled, we are filled with joy and hope today.

Our joy, our true joy, the source of our joy, lies in the words of Jesus. It is only through His words that we can be certain that God is with us, after which this fact becomes our supreme joy.
And we, filled with joy through Jesus' words, also express our care and love for one another through words. Of course, words alone without action are meaningless.
Yet, through the words given to us, can we not convey love, care, and gratitude to others? And through loving words of faith, can we not also encourage one another?

Putting thoughts into words is difficult. There are many times when we don't know how to express what we want to say, what we think, or what we feel.
Or we might think, “Even if I say it, they won't understand,” and give up on sharing our thoughts with others.
But Jesus never gave up teaching His disciples through words, never stopped communicating His message. No matter how uncomprehending His disciples were, Jesus continued to speak the word of God (the Gospel).
He kept speaking and left His words with the disciples so that my joy—the joy of Christ—might be full in me.
Through Jesus' words—the words He never gave up speaking—we too are filled with joy even now. Let us give thanks for this blessing.

Moreover, in today's passage, Jesus says something truly astonishing to His disciples, and to us.

14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

God dwells on high, and we could never approach Him on our own. God is so great that we cannot fully comprehend His greatness.
Yet such a Being calls us friends. Could such a thing be possible?
If we were friends with someone famous or wonderful, it would be a source of pride for us.
　If we say we know, are related to, or are friends with someone of very high status—like a prime minister, president, or king—most people would consider it a great honor and something to boast about.
Now, God Himself, the Son of God, calls us friends. Through Jesus Christ, we have received this unimaginable, supreme honor and glory: to be friends with God.
It is not because we possessed any special qualities or outstanding virtues that God called us His friends.
God simply chose us, sinful as we are, out of His great, overflowing love. He led us out of the world through His Word, filling us with joy, so that we might become His friends.

　However, there is something we must keep in order to truly become God's friends. It is written in verse 14: “If you keep my commandments.”
And in today's passage, the one thing Jesus commands His disciples (and us) is this:

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　This is my command: Love each other.

This command of Jesus given to all Christians is both a great blessing for us and the most demanding commandment.
For we are unable to love others. Is there anyone who would say, “No, I actually love people”?
If someone is wonderful, good, and lovable, of course we love them. But Jesus did not say, “Love only those you like, only those you get along with.”
　What Jesus said was, “Love one another unconditionally.” Even someone you feel you could never love, even someone you find utterly impossible to respect—Jesus commands, “Love one another.”
And if we keep this command, then the highest honor becomes ours: “I (Jesus) will call you friends.”
　After hearing all this, some of you may be thinking, “That's impossible for me. I can't do it.” To be honest, I myself am in the same position.

But let's listen to Jesus further in verse 13.
13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

　“Greater love has no one than this, to lay one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus Himself fulfilled these very words.
Jesus Christ came into the world at Christmas with a great purpose and mission. It was that He would lay down His own life for us.
　Jesus proved this by saying, “I call you friends. You are my friends,” and to forgive our sins, He died on the cross.
Christmas is the time we remember the birth of this Savior, the one true, supreme God who calls us friends　(even though we had no qualifications or qualities whatsoever to become friends of God) and gave His life for us.
　Our Savior, Jesus Christ—the God who calls us friends—was born into this world for us.
Let us receive this glory beyond compare and celebrate this Christmas with great and supreme joy and gratitude.