Ed Marsh takes us through what the Bible teaches us about money
Join us for Lent 2026
As Lent begins we want to invite you to join with us thinking about and celebrating the Easter story.
For many churches around the world Lent is like a journey where we join together with the whole church world wide, including our brothers and sisters in the persecuted church. It’s a time of drawing closer to God and thinking about the events of that one week that changed the course of human history.
In 2026, Lent begins on Wednesday 18th February and ends on Thursday 2nd April.
This year, why not choose a bible reading plan that will help you follow the story of Jesus’ journey to the cross? Lent culminates in Holy Week, when as a church we try to find ways of pausing each day to remember the specific events of that week, including our Good Friday service and Easter Sunday celebration at Woodlands.
Nowadays there is a wealth of free digital bible plans available online and in apps.
DIGITAL LENT RESOURCES
The following resources are available through the Bible App which is completely free, with no advertising and no in-app purchases, or access plans direct from their website version of the Bible online.
Mark: Living the Way of Jesus in the World
A 40-day devotional journey through Mark’s Gospel – designed to help you see Jesus afresh and deepen your wonder at God at work in the world. Each day, there’s a ‘First Thought’ to stimulate your own, a question from the day’s passage to chew over, a prompt to consider your response in your context, and a short prayer to conclude.
Lent for Everyone: Daily Devotionals by NT Wright
Following the story in real time can bring even more significance to arguably the most important week in the Christian year. For each day of Lent, there is a reading chosen from the Gospel of Matthew, plus a reflection by NT Wright.Journey to the Cross: 7-Day Bible Plan by Pete Greig
Pause and pray as you prepare your heart for Easter. Join Jesus on His journey to the cross, through the tomb, and into resurrection life.Dreaming the Impossible Bible Plans
DTI have created Bible plans for young people aged 12 - 18. Check out Psalms to Make You Think which is a a 4 day study of different Psalms to help expand deepen your relationship and passion for God. Or try How to Thrive in Teenagehood, written by teenagers for teenagers so that young people would not just survive this season of their lives but thrive in this season of their lives.
Additional free app based daily devotionals from 24-7 Prayer:
Lectio 365
A free daily devotional resource that helps you pray the Bible every day, inspired by Lectio Divina, a way of meditating on the Bible that’s been used by Christians for centuries.Lectio for Families
Free devotional app that helps families read the Bible and explore faith together.Inner Room
A Lent prayer series, available through the Inner Room app. The app has morning, afternoon, and evening prayers designed to bring you back into the presence of God for a few minutes throughout your day. This year their theme is ‘what’s shaping you?’, with an invitation to choose to be shaped by God this Lent.
February Prayer Calendar
Pray each day
Each month, you’re invited to pray for church and all that is happening with our monthly Prayer Calendar. You can view and download the calendar below as a PDF.
Workplace Conference 7th Feb
At the start of the year, it is good to take a review of our lives, reflect on God's love and how we can serve him whole-heartly for 2026.
For many of us, we spend a significant amount of time in the workplace. How is our faith relevant there?
We are running a morning workplace conference on Sat 7th Feb called Illuminate. Illuminate is a short programme to explore how you can be a positive influence in shaping the culture of your organisation in a way that truly reflects God’s Kingdom in your workplaces. It is an opportunity to consider the impact you can have in your organisation, and what God might want to say through you.
Renovation of the Heart
Renovation of the Heart
Unpacking the Power of Repentance
“The quest for spiritual formation (really, as indicated, spiritual transformation) is in fact an age-old and worldwide one. It is rooted in the deep personal and even biological need for goodness that haunts humanity.”
Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart
In this series we are exploring the transforming power of repentance. We want to look at confession, receiving forgiveness, healing, and taking spiritual authority in areas that were once places of defeat. The aim is to ground new Christians in these essential foundational practices but also to offer long-term believers a renewed experience of grace.
Our morning and evening talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:
Repentance and Transformation - 1st February
The Prayer of Confession - 8th February
Repentance and the Heart of God - 15th February
Repentance and Spiritual Revitilisation - 22nd February
Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.
Renovation of the Heart - Discussion Notes
See you on Sundays or catchup on the Livesteam!
January Bible School - "Prayer and the Nature of God" with Tim Dobson and Ella Wyse
Join us during the 6.30pm service in the Crypt at Woodlands Central on Sunday 11th Jan
January Prayer Calendar
Pray each day
Each month, you’re invited to pray for church and all that is happening with our monthly Prayer Calendar. You can view and download the calendar below as a PDF.
Prayer is the Key
Prayer is the Key
We want to start the new year with a focus on prayer which will include the WCF Prayer Week (18th-25th). During September 25 Prayer Week at Central we felt God say to us ‘prayer is the key’. We want to use this series to unpack what that means. The aim of this series is to encourage, provoke, teach and deepen our corporate and individual prayer life.
Our morning and evening talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:
The Future Now - 4th January
Vision Sunday - 11th January
Keeping in Step with the Spirit - 18th January
Keeping Watch, Keeping Guard - 25th January
Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.
Prayer is the Key - Discussion Notes
See you on Sundays or catchup on the Livesteam!
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!
December Prayer Calendar
Pray each day
Each month, you’re invited to pray for church and all that is happening with our monthly Prayer Calendar. You can view and download the calendar below as a PDF.
Bible School with Rachel Riddall
This month Rachel spoke on the interaction of Jesus with Women in John’s Gospel
Preacher's Workshop Resources
Here are the audio recordings of the Preaching workshop run as part of the Woodlands Church Academy.
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
Creativity and the Kingdom
Bible School this month looked at what the Bible story says about Creativity. Meg Nurcombe, who is currently studying for a PhD in Theology and Art, is our speaker
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.
See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!
MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES
Session Two of Autumn Bible School - Philippians
Dan Viner and Jack Johnson take us through the second part of Philippians chapter 1 and the amazing Christ poem at the beginning of chapter 2
Autumn Bible School - Intro to Philippians
Here is the first session of our Autumn Bible School on the book of Philippians.
Woodlands Bible School - The Kingdom of God
Here’s a whistle stop tour of what the Bible has to say about one of Jesus’ main obsessions - The Kingdom of God
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:
The Body of Christ - 5th October
One Another - 12th October
Kingdom Expansion - 19th October
Sex God? - 26th October
Helpful Resources
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
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!