January 2018 BRANCHES

SOUTHWOOD
BRANCHES
CONFERENCE 2018
by Ron Clegg
We are finishing up the holiday season where we celebrate the
coming of the Son of God in human flesh. What a glorious thing
our God accomplished for us in the birth of Jesus. Why did He
come? There are multiple reasons we could list, but the Gospel of
John tells us that Jesus came into the darkness of our
ignorance and our rebellion to make the Father
known. We were initially created to know
God personally and intimately, but
our sin disrupted that relationship
to such an extent that it was
irreparable from our side. Help had
to come from Heaven. And it did in
a most glorious way. God Himself
came in the incarnation of His Son,
sending Jesus to be the bridge
between the rebel creature and
the Holy Creator.
WORLD
THE AROUND
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ARO
The fact that we can return
to the personal, intimate
knowledge and relationship
with our Creator is wonderful
beyond imagination. But it
gets even better than that. In
John 17:20-21 Jesus prays this for
us: “I do not ask for these only, but
also for those who will believe in me
through their word, that they may all be
one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in
you, that they also may be in us.” We are not
just brought into acquaintance with God, but we are
deeply united to Him just as He is united to the Son and to
the Spirit. We can know Him at a level that boggles the mind. We
are loved with the same passion and joy as the Trinity loves one
another.
Jesus also says, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them
into the world” ( John 17:18). The “them” He is speaking of is us,
those who would come after the Apostles and who believe their
word. Jesus was sent into the world that the Father might become
known. Now Jesus is sending us in the same way, to
make the Father known. That is our purpose
and calling as believers in Jesus. We are
now ambassadors of the glory of God
and the salvation accomplished for
us through Jesus’ life, death, and
resurrection. We have no greater calling
than to be the personal representatives of
the Creator King of all things to those
who remain in darkness.
Sharing joyful news actually makes
us more joyful. When I was married,
I invited many people into our joy
to celebrate our wedding with us.
Sharing our joy actually enhanced
our joy. In Christ we now are
blessed with news so much greater
than a wedding. We now are sent
with the news that the darkness is
broken and that the curse brought
about by our sin is undone. We are
now sent just as Jesus was, joyfully to
make the source of our joy known.
This is the idea behind the phrase “experience
and express grace.” Our mission as a church is that we
might experience more deeply the extravagant grace given to
us through Jesus, because that is the fountain of eternal joy. Yet,
that joy is not just for us. We rejoice to make the source of our joy
known to those who remain in the chains of sin and despair.
This is why the Father sent the Son into this dark world, to make
the glory of God known once again. What grace He has given to
us who deserve only His curse! Our sin gained for us the darkness,
but in the love of God, we are shown grace that we might know Him
intimately again, not as our condemning judge, but as our beloved
Father.
The implications for us in all of this are huge. First, we are the
recipients of a gift of grace that we cannot fully fathom in this life.
At best we can taste of the glory of our new position in Jesus. But
we are also given hope that one day we will know this reality in full.
This is also the idea behind our Express Grace Conference. Its
design is that your joy in God’s grace will be heightened, and that
you will be encouraged to see that joy flow from you to a needy
world. This year we are focusing on our work in making God known
through global missions. We are involved in many places sharing the
joy we know in Christ. We will have several of our mission partners
with us for our conference so that you might be encouraged at how
Southwood is bringing the light of the knowledge of Christ to the
world, and that you might find your place in the work of making the
glory of God known around the world.
4 JANUARY 2018 | SOUTHWOOD.ORG