2nd Advent Sunday Worship Service December 7, 2025

Prelude
Call to Worship Psalm 29:11
Lighting of the Advent Candle
Hymn JBC # 149 Veni, Veni, Emmanuel
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC #263 Hover o’er me, Holy Spirit
The Prayer Time
Offering
Scripture John 14:25～31
Prayer
Sermon “Peace of Christ”
Prayer
Hymn JBC# 515 When peace, like a river, attendeth my way
Doxology JBC # 679
Benediction
Postlude



Today we are offering our worship on this second Day of our Lord (Sunday) of Advent, eagerly awaiting the advent of Christmas when Jesus Christ was born.
The Bible passage I have chosen for today is the passage in chapter 14 of John’s gospel where Jesus is talking to his disciples and giving them his final teachings, his final words before dying on the cross.
The reason I chose this passage for this time of advent which celebrates eagerly awaiting the birth of Christ is that Jesus’ words in this passage speak clearly of the true hope and peace which Jesus gives to us.
Chapters 14 to 17 in John’s gospel contain the last words of Jesus that he spoke to his disciples before he was arrested and crucified.
In the first verse in today’s passage, verse 25, Jesus is telling his disciples “All this I have spoken while still with you.”

And in verse 30, it says that Jesus told them “I will not say much more to you,”.
Looking at these words “All this I have spoken while still with you”, and “I will not say much more to you”, it makes me think that Jesus really lived his life on earth without any regrets.
Jesus lived his life on earth as a man with a limited lifespan. There was only so much he was able to say while he was alive.
After Jesus said “I will not say much more to you”, he says “for the prince (ruler)of this world is coming”.
Perhaps when he said that, he meant “since the authorities will soon arrest me, I will not be able to tell you (teach you) much more than I already have”.

Yet at the same time, I think Jesus might also have meant that “I have told you (told the disciples) everything I need to tell you”, and “I have fulfilled the mission entrusted to me by Father God.
From this point on, Jesus is taken and crucified. Jesus had the ultimate mission, of taking all our sins upon himself and dying on the cross.
Yet, before being arrested and dying on the cross, Jesus had told his disciples everything he needed to tell them.

Jesus said everything that needed to be said, telling the disciples God’s word without leaving anything out, so that when he left this world, they would be able to draw strength from God’s word to continue living in faith.
Jesus’ words have been left to us now as the Bible, as the gospel, and even now we can listen to the words of Jesus through the Bible.
What at encouragement that is to us, having the word of God left to us. Isn’t that such a great source of hope and joy for us?
But, the words of the Bible are not easily understood. Amongst the words of the Bible and the words spoken by Jesus, there are difficult passages and parts that are very difficult for us living in this day and age to accept.

However, in today’s passage, Jesus promises that when we listen to or read the words of Scripture, our heavenly father God will send us a helper to teach us about those words.
In verse 26 it says:
26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Just as is written, even today the invisible Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, is working in our hearts and teaching us the meaning of God’s Word.

If not for the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, there is no way that we would be able to make the words of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus our own.
The Holy Spirit is truly a mysterious being. We believe in the triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is also equal to God.
We may not be able to see the Holy Spirit, but even now the Spirit is surely guiding us, enabling us to listen to and believe in the Scriptures as the Word of God.
The Holy Spirit connects us with the Son, Jesus Christ, and God the Father through the Word.
If anyone here thinks “I just don’t really understand what the Bible says”, please open your heart and welcome God’s spirit into your heart, and please open up the scriptures again with that in mind.

And, I also hope that you will all pray that the words of the messages spoken like this in our church, that the Holy Spirit that is the Spirit of God would aid us, that the words spoken here as God’s message would resonate deeply within each and every one of our hearts, and would strengthen us.
Let us also continue living our lives of faith, placing great hope in the power of the Holy Spirit who makes clear the meaning of the Word to us and gives us the strength to live spiritually through the Word.

Let’s look at verse 27.
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

　At the beginning of today’s worship service, we lit the second Advent candle. The meaning of the second Advent candle is “Peace”.
The second Advent candle is lit to show us that even now, the peace of Christ shines within us and in the world.
Jesus said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.”
What does “peace as the world gives” mean?
One way would be to acquire the power or weapons needed to oppose those who go against you, forcing anyone who won’t heed what you say to listen to you.

Another way would be to acquire financial power and social status, making people listen to you or achieving your desires or getting what you want through money or authority over them.
But Jesus’ promises to give us peace in a way completely different to those ways, a way that we can’t even imagine, and he lived this way himself.
The peace Jesus promised to give us, “my peace, the peace of Christ”, is the peace that comes through Jesus himself, who is equal to God, dying on the cross, bearing all our sins with him on the cross and dying in our place.
Jesus Christ took that sin that we ourselves should have had to bear, and took it onto himself. The price that we should have paid for our sins was instead paid for by Jesus.
To forgive our sins, the evil that destroys peace, Jesus nailed both evil and sin to the cross along with himself.

Jesus did not take on the power of evil by opposing it with more power, but instead he took the power of evil and affixed it to the cross along with himself, rendering evil completely powerless.
The peace that Jesus promised to us, “my peace, the peace of Christ”, is the peace that comes through Jesus himself, who is equal to God, dying on the cross, bearing all our sins with him on the cross and dying in our place.

But with the world the way it is, doesn’t it seem like evil isn’t getting any weaker? That’s certainly true.
We shouldn’t turn our eyes away from the reality of the world where evil seems to be rampant.
Rather than turning our eyes away from the world, shouldn’t we instead turn to the Word of God, and then look again at the reality of society and world through the faith that is given to us?
Looking up at the cross of Christ that has defeated the evil of the world, believing that Jesus has already destroyed the evil of this world on the cross and given us true peace, this is how we can live among the reality of this world.
As Christians who believe in the words of Jesus Christ on the cross who promised us the “Peace of Christ”, let us go on living even amongst the realities of this world, knowing that we have been given the Peace of Christ.

Let’s read the words of Jesus in verse 31, the last verse in today’s passage. I will conclude the message for today’s worship service being guided by these words.

31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

“Come now; let us leave.
The Son, Jesus Christ, loves God the Father, and he himself was loved by God the Father. Amidst this relationship of love, Jesus lived in obedience to his Father’s commands.
Jesus urged his disciples “Come now; let us leave.”
Even now Jesus urges us to “believe that in this world filled with evil and sin, God already has the victory, and to show that hope to the world”.

As we worship together at church like this, we are blessed to be encouraged and strengthened by God’s voice, and to receive hope.
And when Jesus’ voice says “Come now; let us leave.”, by this we are being sent out from this place to where we live our own lives.
When Jesus said “Come now; let us leave”, the path Jesus was heading out to take in today’s passage was the path towards the cross.
Jesus was setting out towards the place where he would bear the cross to atone for our sins, a burden that only he could bear.
We also set out on the path of faith walking with Jesus, following Him who bore the cross, the heaviest of burdens, for our sakes.

Day by day, let us rise and walk the path of faith alongside Jesus. Even in the tough times, Jesus is with us, that is something we can be sure of.
The Lord takes us by the hand and helps us to rise, and the Lord walks alongside us. Because of this, we can be at peace.
Just as he promised, the Lord Jesus Christ will always be there walking alongside us. As the Savior of peace, he gives peace to us. For this reason, we need have no fear.
The Lord is with us. Jesus Christ, the savior of peace, is the source of our peace.
Without Him, there is no true peace. Let us rejoice greatly that true peace has been given to us through Christ.