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Kingsized
Kingsized
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December Prayer Calendar
December Prayer Calendar
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Disciplines of the Disciple
Disciplines of the Disciple
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Tough Talk
Tough Talk
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Kingdom Community
Kingdom Community

Kingsized

Kingsized

“And He shall reign forever and ever, King of kings! and Lord of lords! 
Hallelujah Chorus by Georg Friedrich Handel 

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.

What kind of king is Jesus? In the fear, confusion and division around the world many long for a ‘strong leader’ who will lead us through troubled times, but sometimes leaders are the ones causing the chaos. In bible times the Israelites were led by God through a relationship mediated by spiritual leaders, but in their insecurity they begged God for a king, “a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have” thinking that this would give them status with their enemies, help them to win battles and expand their kingdom. They wanted an impressive, stronger, more visible leader, a kingsized leader! God warns them that that they will lose more than they will gain and true enough, they got their king and it brought them all kinds of trouble! (1 Sam 1: 8). But then God promises them, one day I will send you a king who will lead like no other king. He will be powerful and victorious but also holy and humble. This is the kind of king that Jesus is.  

Our morning talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:

  • A Humble King - 7th December

  • An Unexpected King - 14th December

  • A Wise King - 21st December

  • A Peaceful King - 25th December

See you on Sundays or catchup on the Livesteam!

Preacher's Workshop Resources

Here are the audio recordings of the Preaching workshop run as part of the Woodlands Church Academy.

PowerPoint
Handout
Preparing a talk handout
Preaching evaluation form

Disciplines of the Disciple

Disciplines of the Disciple

It is a truism to say that the discipleship life involves discipline. What differentiates it from legalism is about desire. The person with a desire to play a musical instrument or excel at sport chooses to make time to practice and develop skills and disciplines ‘because of the joy set before them’. It is not compulsion but choice.

Of course, sometimes the coach/tutor sets exercises that are demanding and not at first inherently pleasant, but even these become a joy once mastered. This series looks at Spiritual disciplines and picks up some areas of ‘discipline’ that we don’t talk as much about.

Our Evening talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:

  • The Disciplined Life - 2nd November

  • The Scriptures - 9th November

  • The Tongue - 16th November

  • Stewardship - 23rd November

  • Pursuing the Spirit - 30th November

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.

Disciplines of the Disciples - Discussion Notes

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

The Disciplined Life
2nd Nov at 6.30pm with Clare Thompson

The Tongue
16th Nov at 6.30pm with Jack Saunders

The Scriptures
9th Nov at 6.30pm with Tim Dobson

Stewardship
23rd Nov at 6.30pm with Deborah Marsh

Tough Talk

Tough Talk

Our November morning sermon series looks at some of Jesus’ teaching from the Gospels which can be hard. Hard to understand or hard to put into practice, or both! Jesus’ call to take up our cross and follow him comes at a cost but the benefits are always rich, deep and wide as we surrender every area of our lives to him and learn how to be his disciples.

Our Morning talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:

  • The Way of the Cross - 2nd November

  • Friend of Sinners - 9th November

  • Love Your Enemies - 16th November

  • Two Masters - 23rd November

  • Authentic Faith - 30th November

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.

Tough Talk - Discussion Notes

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

The Way of the Cross
2nd Nov at 11am with Rachel Riddall

Love Your Enemies
16th Nov at 11am with Hazel Askew

Friend of Sinners
9th Nov at 11am with Nigel Savage

Two Masters
23rd Nov at 11am with David Mitchell

Kingdom Community

Kingdom Community

The Christian life was never meant to be lived alone. Jesus calls us into His Kingdom, a community under His rule, living out His ways, and showing the world what love looks like. Over these weeks we’ll explore what it means to belong to the body of Christ, to practice the “one another” commands, to join in God’s work of Kingdom growth, and to honour Him even in our bodies and relationships.

Our Evening talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.

Kingdom Community - Discussion Notes

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

The Body of Christ
5th October at 6.30pm with Dave Roderick

Kingdom Expansion
19th October at 6.30pm with Matt Dobson

One Another
12th October at 6.30pm with Laura Harris

Sex God?
26th October at 6.30pm with David Mitchell

Called to Worship

Called to Worship

This October we are looking to come together as a church to take a fresh look at worship and the place it takes in our lives individually and as a worshipping community in a world that worships many things other than God. The context for this series is the Exodus story but we also want to reference how this points to Jesus and how we worship him. The story of the Exodus is the pivotal salvation event of the OT. The story is driven by God’s desire for his people to worship him. He wants a people for himself who will worship him exclusively. God frees people from the powers of Egypt in one night but the challenge of idolatry in the hearts of the people takes many years to remove. There are many aspects of worship that are seen in the Exodus

narrative, from the Passover, the presence of God, establishing the tabernacle as a place of worship of God and being filled with the glory of God. It’s also a story of human failings, idolatry, grumbling and judgement.

Our Morning talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:

  • Free(d) to Worship - 5th October

  • Sacrificial Worship - 12th October

  • Worship as Resistance - 19th October

  • Encountering God’s Presence in Worship - 26th October

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.

Called to Worship - Discussion Notes

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

Freed to Worship
5th October at 11am with Hazel Askew

Worship as Resistance
19th October at 11am with Rachel Riddall

Sacrificial Worship
12th October at 11am with Tim Dobson

Encountering God’s Presence in Worship
26th October at 11am with Jake Perrins

Prayer Week 2025

At Woodlands Central, we love to pray and each September we celebrate Prayer Week, where we come before God together and offer him what is on our hearts.

Prayer Week is happening from the 22nd - 27th September 2025. It is a lovely time of fellowship, where we look forward and prepare ourselves spiritually for the coming season. The week consists of daily events and a 24/7 Prayer Room that can be booked by individuals or groups.

Here’s how you can get involved:

  • Pray the Lord’s Prayer at 12 noon every day

  • Come to Morning Prayer Meetings from Monday to Friday from 7.15am - 8.15am in the Foyer

  • Come to an Evening of Prayer & Worship event on Wednesday, 24th September at 7.45pm

  • Fast on Wednesday 24th September before coming to our evening event (Learn about fasting)

The Blessed Life

A life shaped by God’s Blessings

People are often looking for ‘The good life’. It could be the American Dream, or the eponymous rural idyll of TV fame. As Christians we are called to something higher, ‘The Blessed life’. It doesn’t mean an easy life, rather it means a life aligned to the good purposes of God, for us and through us. 

Our talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:

  • The Chosen Life - 7th September

  • The Peaceful Life - 14th September

  • The Consecrated Life - 21st September

  • The Given Life - 28th September

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.

The Blessed Life - Discussion Notes

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

The Chosen Life
7th September at 6.30pm with Dave Mitchell

The Consecrated Life
21st September at 6.30pm with Rachel Riddall

The Peaceful Life
14th September at 6.30pm with Clare Thompson

The Given Life
28th September at 6.30pm with Nigel Savage

Jesus' Priorities

Aligning our Hearts with His Priorities

As we start a new academic year, we want to begin by looking at what’s important to God. What are Jesus’ priorities? We want to share about 4 key areas which were Jesus’ priorities for his early followers and ask ourselves are these our priorities too.  We want to have an opportunity to share vision as we start the new year.  

Our talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:

  • Children - 7th September

  • Witnessing - 14th September

  • Prayer - 21st September

  • Harvest - 28th September

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.

Jesus’ Priorities - Discussion Notes

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

Children
7th September at 11am with Nigel Savage

Prayer
21st September at 11am with Hazel Askew

Witnessing
14th September at 11am with Rachel Riddall

Harvest
28th September at 11am with David Mitchell

Life to the Full, a Deep Dive into Colossians

Life to the Full, a Deep Dive into Colossians

Paul writes to a young church in modern-day Turkey, likely planted through the ministry of Epaphras, his co-worker in the gospel (Col 1:7-8). This church, early in its journey, is being unsettled by a local “philosophy”, voices urging them to trade the freedom of Christ for the weight of religious rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” (Col 2:21).

Concerned, Epaphras brings news to Paul. And Paul responds with clarity: Jesus is enough. He is not just part of the story, He is the centre. Supreme. Sufficient. The only Saviour. In Him alone is true life, beautifully captured in the soaring hymn of Colossians 1:15-20.

“15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Our talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:

  • A Worthy Life - What is our focus in life?

  • Death to Life - How is Baptism a picture of this?

  • New Life - Putting on your new self

  • A Peaceful Life -Living in peace

  • Sharing Life - Prayer and sharing faith

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

A Worthy Life
3 August at 11am with Clare Thompson

Death to Life
10 August at 11am with Tim Dobson

New Life
17 August at 11am with Jake Perrins

A Peaceful Life
25 August at 11am with Rachel Riddall

Sharing Life
31st August at 11am with Dave Mitchell

A Worthy Life
3 August at 6.30pm with Matt Dobson

Death to Life
10 August at 6.30pm with Dave Mitchell

New Life
17 August at 6.30pm with Nigel Savage

A Peaceful Life
25 August at 6.30pm with Laura Harris

Sharing Life
31st August at 6.30pm with Jack Saunders

Woodlands Church, Belgrave Road, Bristol BS8 2AA