Branches Humboldt

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We pray your holidays have been filled with joy and hope. As we turn the corner and begin this new year together, we want to take the opportunity to put Jesus at the center of it all - once again. There's an ancient tradition of celebrating whoever comes through the front door of your house first in the new year, so let's open the "door" of our hearts and lives an...

THE GANGS ALL HERE Get ready for a very special Sunday as we gather together (kids included!) for a family service, celebrating the birth of Jesus and the hope He gives as we look ahead to the new year! The extended Fox clan (including all FOUR of Justin's brothers and their families) are with us, leading worship, teaching, reading Scripture, and guiding us through prayer and reflection. This...

MISSING JOSEPH in the Christmas story is a common occurrence! Maybe it's because after Zachariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Angels, Shepherds, and Wise Men, there's just too much action and drama to stop and consider the quiet, faithful father-figure in the background. When you ponder the fourth Advent theme of "Love" though, a sacrificial, serving-others-kind-of-love, Joseph's action...

MANY OF US feel like JOY is out of reach. We’re tired. Stressed. Disappointed. Overwhelmed. We've chased after the "Good Life" and found it comes up hollow. We assume joy comes after life gets better. And this feeling is nothing knew - listen how the Psalmist writes it chapter 4; “Many people say, “Who will show us better times?” Let your face smile on us, Lord. You have given me gre...

"DON'T BE AFRAID" Every time an angel steps into the Christmas story, they always open with that line; "Don't be afraid..." And that's exactly how Zechariah hears it as he encounters his divine moment. It's an assurance of love and care - and it's coupled with the peace of God in the midst of uncertainty. Most of us want peace, but in our noisy, chaotic worl...

THIS SEASON has so much promise and joy to it, but there’s also a variety of emotions we experience. One of those is this nagging feeling of emptiness - the question; “Is this really it? Is this truly what it’s all about?” These four weeks leading up to Christmas, the Church's "Advent" season, begins right there; not in strength, but in ache. We all have a place that feels like an em...

GRATITUDE changes our perspective. As we look ahead to Christmas and the holidays, it's a great time to reflect on all that God has given us and to consider how He would want us to give in generous ways. God invites us to ultimately see our money and possessions through this lens of gratitude. Since we know everything we have comes from God, we give back a portion to Him with thankfulness and...

"IT'S BETTER TO GIVE than to receive." That's what they say, anyway! Some of us are born-givers who love to see the joy in others as they receive our gifts - and some of us just really like getting gifts, right?! It seems soon to say, but Christmas is right around the corner (some of us have already decorated!), and it's the season of giving and receiving - and it's a tim...

FOLLOW THE LEADER can sometimes be a fun game when you're a child, but it gets more complicated when we're adults, doesn't it? How do we know a leader is worth following? Are they going in the right direction? Do they have my best in mind? The last part of Hebrews encourages us to take seriously our spiritual leaders and honor them as we all follow God together. In this day and age, as...

It’s easy for any community — even a church — to turn inward and get comfortable. How many of us have felt the sting of being excluded or ignored? But Jesus calls us outside the walls, where the real action is! Listen to how Hebrews 13:10-14 says it; "So let’s go outside, where Jesus is, where the action is—not trying to be privileged insiders, but taking our share in the abuse of Jesus. This...

CAN YOU RELATE to that feeling of thinking and preparing for something for so long, waiting for the moment to finally arrive.. and then, it's HERE! It's time! Let's gooooooooo!!! Coming off the celebration of last Sunday, looking back on THREE YEARS of God's faithfulness and goodness, it's time to focus our gaze once more on the road ahead. This Sunday, we begin our journey thr...

We have so much to celebrate as Branches crosses the three-year mark of meeting together every Sunday! Wow - what awesome things God has done! Could you even count the stories? It's like a tidal wave of Jesus' love and grace changing lives everywhere we look. This Sunday, we take some time to reflect and celebrate on these amazing three years together (with three faith-stories!), and we&#3...

FAITH in our culture’s view is something you acquire and develop within yourself. You know; “...gotta have faith, faith, faith!” Or, how about this cliche in positive thinking: “Trust in yourself, have faith!” But God invites us to a totally different reality; faith not in ourselves, but in something -or someone- outside of ourselves; faith that comes from Him as a gift. When we doubt, we’re welco...

WE CAN BE TEMPTED to give up on faith when doubts and questions swirl around us. We can be tempted to give up on love when disappointment and rejection knock us down. We can be tempted to give up on hope when our situations are confusing and difficult. When following God's path seems murky and the way of Jesus unpopular, there's a real pull to abandon it all and just do what feels 'rig...

Some might look back with fond nostalgia on the past and say this was the "good 'ol days", "things were better back then" - but, really? Sometimes new developments are truly helpful. And that couldn't more true in the case of Jesus' arrival! Jesus came to bring a "new covenant"; a new relationship between us and God. There's no going back, why would we...

WHAT VOICE has the most influence in your life? Who do we listen to - and how does that affect and impact us? Is it Podcasters? Preachers? Youtubers? Parents? Grandparents? Big brothers or sisters? Even the best Pastors? Last week, as we kicked off our new series, we looked at Hebrews 1-3 and saw how Jesus Is Better than angels or any spiritual beings, and this Sunday, we'll move on to chapter 4 a...

Whether you're a Christian, or just checking out church for the first time, you know that angels have actually gotten a lot of press throughout the centuries; statues, paintings, tattoos. In fact, the Devil himself was an angel at one time - one who rebelled (interesting story!). Humboldt County is a very “spiritual place". There’s all sorts of spiritual entities or transcendental experie...

THERE'S ANOTHER JUSTIN in the house...but this one's from Texas! Justin Gambino headlined Unity in the Community last Saturday AND, he agreed to be with us the next day; this Sunday morning! Raised in a Christian home, Justin Gambino rebelled in high school and was arrested for theft at the age of 18. His judge gave him the option of military service, and at 19, he began an 8 year enlistme...

YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE THIS, but one of my longest friendships in leadership is with a "Strongman" who shares God's love and grace all around the world by performing feats of strength! Yah, crazy, right??! Well, when you meet Jon this Sunday, you'll love him as much as I do! I was with Jon in England for an outreach when he broke the Guinness World Record. I sidestepped street-...

WE ALL UNDERSTAND the concept of gardening; we get out what we put in. In this last Sunday of the "Good & Beautiful Community" series, we consider once again this truth. And God uses it (and the analogy of sowing and reaping) in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians to talk about generosity: 2 Corinthians 9:5-6 reads, “So I thought I should send these brothers ahead of me to make sure the...

A mark of a "Good and Beautiful Community" is that we're a prayerful people. We know that God is the source of strength and hope in all situations, and so we turn to Him around every corner of our lives. Join us this Sunday as Mike Haley shares and we pray in the new school year, enjoying these last weeks of summer - together! Sunday // 10:30AM // 70 Stephens Ln. Bayside, CA 95524

IT TAKES PRACTICE...learning the ways of a good and beautiful community. It's who we are in Jesus (already!), but growing into this reality, stepping into this truth; these are action-steps, practices that we get better at over time. How are the practices going for you so far? What's it been like practicing being "A Peculiar People", "A Hopeful People", "A Serving...

HOLY AND BROKEN...broken and holy. We are both of these things, in balance, and a "good and beautiful community" has the power to remind us of this truth. Our world doesn’t tell us the truth about ourselves, but as a faith family gathers together, through song, scripture, and prayer, we get a glimpse of who we are and what we can become. Paul says it like this in Ephesians 4:1 “Therefore...

LET'S TALK about the "F" word; Forgiveness. "To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness."  ( Robert Muller) But haven't we all wrestled with what actual "forgiveness" is supposed to look like? Have you wondered if you're doing it right, or even doing it at all? Have you ever felt guilt or...

UNITY IN DIVERSITY “If we disagree, then we must divide.” How WRONG is this statement??? Have you ever felt the temptation though, to separate from people who don't think like you or believe like you? Did you know the original Greek word for Church is "Ecclesia", and it implies a diverse group of people, called out from every corner of life, to be united together under one mission, o...