Woodies Kids | Jesus calls the Disciples

Welcome to the Woodies Kids blog.

this week we Think About when…

jesus calls his disciples

You can read about it in

· In this passage who chooses to follow Jesus?

· What were they doing when Jesus called them?

· What did they leave behind?

· Why do you think they left everything behind?

· What changed for them after they chose to follow Jesus?

Share with God who your friends are. Tell God what your favourite activity to do with them. Ask God to highlight one of those friends to you. Ask God to bless that friend. What might that look like?

Resolute: The Father's Heart | Dave Mitchell at 7pm | 31st of January 2021

How can we do the New Year well?

31 January 2021 - 7pm Service

Resolute: The Father’s Heart

This Sunday we finish our preaching series Resolute with a message from Dave Mitchell on ‘The Father’s Heart’.

As we enter into 2021, we’re asking the question: “How can we do the New Year well?” January is renowned for people setting resolutions - but these are often hard to stick to. Change isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible, either. The beliefs and habits we have and the decisions we make influence who we are becoming on a day to day basis.

In this series, we’ll be looking at the foundations we build our lives upon and what happens when everything is shaken. Are our resolutions built on our wisdom, our ability - or His? Self-reflection is really useful tool and we'll be looking at what we need to hold on to and what we should let go of in the year ahead.

Remember, earlier today at the 11am service we heard Rob Scott-Cook speak on the same topic. Go check it out!

Resolute: The Father's Heart | Rob Scott-Cook at 11am | 31st of January 2021

How can we do the New Year well?

31 January 2021 - 11am Service

Resolute: The Father’s Heart

This Sunday we finish our preaching series Resolute with a message from Tim Dobson on ‘The Father’s Heart’.

As we enter into 2021, we’re asking the question: “How can we do the New Year well?” January is renowned for people setting resolutions - but these are often hard to stick to. Change isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible, either. The beliefs and habits we have and the decisions we make influence who we are becoming on a day to day basis.

In this series, we’ll be looking at the foundations we build our lives upon and what happens when everything is shaken. Are our resolutions built on our wisdom, our ability - or His? Self-reflection is really useful tool and we'll be looking at what we need to hold on to and what we should let go of in the year ahead.

Remember, our 7pm service will be looking at the same topic Dave Mitchell will be sharing with us. Check it out!

Both/And Series

What can we learn from ‘both/and’ characters in the Bible?

This February, we’ll be exploring some of the rich characterisation of people we don’t often look at from the Bible.

In particular, we’ll be focusing on issues raised in these contrasting personalities. The people we’re focusing on will show different examples of what ambition, leadership and servanthood looked like and how their own strengths and weaknesses affected them and those in their lives. 

Our preaching topics during this series are:

• Jacob and Esau - 7 February

• Judas and Mary - 14 February

• Mary and Martha - 21 February

• Ruth and Samson - 28 February

• Paul and Barnabas - 7 March

Download the series discussion notes to help you go deeper with these topics, either on your own or in a mid-week group.

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TALKS FROM OUR BOTH/AND SERIES

Woodies Kids | Stories about Jesus

Welcome to the Woodies Kids blog.

this week we Think About…

stories of Jesus

· What is your favourite story of Jesus from the Bible?

· What does that story tell you about Jesus?

· Why do you like it so much?

Family Challenge

Can you ask your parents what their favourite story about Jesus is? Why not read it all together as a family

Spend some time with God. Picture in your head your favourite story about Jesus. Thank God for that story and what it teaches us about Jesus. Ask God “what is your favourite story about me?” or “Do you have a favourite moment in my life?” “Why?”

Student + Young Adult Worship Night

We’d love you to join our Student and Young Adults Worship Night online. Amy, our Student Pastor, and Steve, our Young Adults Pastor, are hosting this special time of worship with the Woodlands Worship team. So tune in at 8pm on Tuesday, 26 January and be sure to say hi in the comments!

Thanks everyone for your hard work to make this online event happen in lockdown.

Resolute: Speak of the Devil | Clare Thompson at 7pm | 24th of January 2021

How can we do the New Year well?

24 January 2021 - 7pm Service

Resolute: Speak of the Devil

This Sunday we contineud our preaching series Resolute with a message from Clare Thompson on ‘Speak of the Devil’.

As we enter into 2021, we’re asking the question: “How can we do the New Year well?” January is renowned for people setting resolutions - but these are often hard to stick to. Change isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible, either. The beliefs and habits we have and the decisions we make influence who we are becoming on a day to day basis.

In this series, we’ll be looking at the foundations we build our lives upon and what happens when everything is shaken. Are our resolutions built on our wisdom, our ability - or His? Self-reflection is really useful tool and we'll be looking at what we need to hold on to and what we should let go of in the year ahead.

Remember, earlier today at the 11am service we heard Tim Dobson speak on the same topic. Go check it out!

Resolute: Speak of the Devil | Tim Dobson at 11am | 24th of January 2021

How can we do the New Year well?

24 January 2021 - 11am Service

Resolute: Speak of the Devil

This Sunday we continued our preaching series Resolute with a message from Tim Dobson on ‘Speak of the Devil’.

As we enter into 2021, we’re asking the question: “How can we do the New Year well?” January is renowned for people setting resolutions - but these are often hard to stick to. Change isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible, either. The beliefs and habits we have and the decisions we make influence who we are becoming on a day to day basis.

In this series, we’ll be looking at the foundations we build our lives upon and what happens when everything is shaken. Are our resolutions built on our wisdom, our ability - or His? Self-reflection is really useful tool and we'll be looking at what we need to hold on to and what we should let go of in the year ahead.

Remember, our 7pm service will be looking at the same topic Clare Thompson l will be sharing with us. Check it out!

Bible School: The Devil and The Nature of Good & Evil

Woodlands Bible School is on Monday evening, 25th January at 8pm on the Woodlands Facebook Page:

• https://www.facebook.com/woodlandschurchbristol

Bible School gives the opportunity to think through in a bit more depth about a Theological issue or a Bible book.

Building on Sunday’s messages on ‘Speak of the Devil’ - Tim Dobson will be leading on the topic of ‘The Devil and The Nature of Good & Evil.’

Hope you can join us!

Woodies Kids | Jesus is Baptised

Welcome to the Woodies Kids blog.

this week we Think About…

Jesus is Baptised

Today we will look at another part of the life of Jesus. Do you remember when we looked at the Christmas story – Mary went to visit her cousin Elisabeth who was also expecting a baby? Well, that baby was John – known as John the Baptist, and he spent his life going around teaching about the One who would come – the Messiah – who do you think that might have been?? Do you know anything else interesting about John the Baptist?

Time To Think

 Jesus was baptised, even though He had done nothing wrong, and this confused John, as we heard in the story. In His baptism, Jesus was demonstrating that He was ready to begin the work Father God had for Him to do and that, like us human beings, He too was making Himself humble to be obedient.

Ask how Jesus' baptism was different to other people's baptisms? The Holy Spirit landed on him like a dove. Explain that the Holy Spirit is the way that God lives inside of each of us if we ask him to. He helps us live in the way that God wants us to.

Sometimes, when God speaks to people, it is loud and clear, like the way Father God spoke over Jesus. More often, God speaks to us, or leads us, by His Holy Spirit, in a quiet whispering voice. In the story, the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus like a dove. The same Holy Spirit can come and live in us, helping us to follow God's ways, when we choose to put our trust in Him.

· what do you think about this story?

· which bit did you like the most?

· do you have any questions about the story?

· what might God want to tell us, through this story?

Holy Spirit came on Jesus in a special way in the story – as a dove. The Holy Spirit is God's way of coming to live inside each of us to help us live like he made us to.

Resolute: Standing Strong | Rachel Riddall at 7pm | 17th of January 2021

How can we do the New Year well?

17 January 2021 - 7pm Service

Resolute: Standing Strong

This Sunday we contineud our preaching series Resolute with a message from Rachel Riddall on ‘Standing Strong’.

As we enter into 2021, we’re asking the question: “How can we do the New Year well?” January is renowned for people setting resolutions - but these are often hard to stick to. Change isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible, either. The beliefs and habits we have and the decisions we make influence who we are becoming on a day to day basis.

In this series, we’ll be looking at the foundations we build our lives upon and what happens when everything is shaken. Are our resolutions built on our wisdom, our ability - or His? Self-reflection is really useful tool and we'll be looking at what we need to hold on to and what we should let go of in the year ahead.

Remember, earlier today at the 11am service we heard Dave Mitchell speak on the same topic. Go check it out!

Resolute: Holding On | Dave Mitchell at 11am | 17th of January 2021

How can we do the New Year well?

17 January 2021 - 11am Service

Resolute: Holding On

This Sunday we continued our preaching series Resolute with a message from Dave Mitchell on ‘Holding On’.

As we enter into 2021, we’re asking the question: “How can we do the New Year well?” January is renowned for people setting resolutions - but these are often hard to stick to. Change isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible, either. The beliefs and habits we have and the decisions we make influence who we are becoming on a day to day basis.

In this series, we’ll be looking at the foundations we build our lives upon and what happens when everything is shaken. Are our resolutions built on our wisdom, our ability - or His? Self-reflection is really useful tool and we'll be looking at what we need to hold on to and what we should let go of in the year ahead.

Remember, our 7pm service will be looking at the topic: ‘Standing Strong’ and Rachel Riddall will be sharing with us. Check it out!

Woodies Kids | Jesus in the Temple

Welcome to the Woodies Kids blog.

this week we Think About…

Jesus in the temple

As Jesus grew up, parts of His childhood and His life are recorded in the Bible. These stories help us to know more about Him. Today we will look at one story in the life of Jesus as he was growing up in Nazareth with Mary, Joseph and his siblings.

Time to think

Jesus was surprised that His family didn’t know where he was.

Where else would I be but in my Father’s house – he said.

Jesus was telling us 2 things in this story – firstly he was confirming that he was the son of God, and secondly, he was telling us that with his Father – with God is where he wanted to be more than anything.

God is our heavenly Father too. How do you feel about that?

What are the ways that they spend time with him? What are some ways that you’ve seen adults spend time with God?

God wants to spend time with us more than anything. Let’s decide to spend some time with God this week.

Seek First: An Evening of Worship & Prayer

Join us during Prayer Week 2021 for Seek First, an evening of prayer and worship on Wednesday, the 13th January 2021 from 8pm - 9pm.

Our worship team will lead this special event and we hope lots of our church family will join in from home. Woodlands have felt strongly impressed on us the words from Romans 12:12: Be Joyful in Hope, Patient in Affliction, and Faithful in Prayer!

You can tune in on YouTube or Facebook!

Prayer Week: 10-17 January 2021

It’s Prayer Week from 10th - 17th January 2021 - let’s get praying and fasting!

You are invited to join the Woodlands Group of Churches for a dedicated week of prayer and fasting at a very dark time for our city, nation and the world. We have felt strongly impressed for us the words from Romans 12:12:

'Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer'.

As we start 2021 with a third lockdown in England, if feels wholly appropriate to gather together in one spirit to fast and and cry out to God for his kingdom to come here, as it is in heaven. It is a brilliant way to start the New Year, surrendering ourselves to God's goodness and power and his will for ourselves, our church and our world, which so desperately needs it. 

There are a few key ways you can get involved throughout Prayer Week and we’d love everyone to take part. 

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A Week of Prayer & Fasting

There are five simple ways to join in and wouldn't it be great if everyone in our church community got involved…

1. Book a slot in the Virtual 24/7 Prayer Room 
   You can sign up to pray for a hour long slots and use our helpful One-Hour Prayer Guide to support you to use the hour in a structured way if you wish. You can also use this Justice 5-Day Devotional from IJM to pray throughout the week.
   

2. Come to Morning Prayer Watch on Zoom from 7.30am - 8.15am 
   Join us online for daily sessions hosted and led by different members of our staff team and church community as we pray for ourselves, Church, our City and the World each morning.  Keep an eye out for the code in Dave’s emails.
   

3. Watch our Daily Devotionals on Facebook Live at 9.05 
   Our daily devotions will inspire and challenge us to pray and fast. So be sure to tune in! You don’t have to be a Facebook member, as they appear on our public page.
   

4. Seek First: An Evening of Worship & Prayer on Wednesday, 13th January from 8pm - 9pm
   April Ballard, our Worship Pastor, will be leading SEEK FIRST, a special prayer and worship event that will be live-streamed from church so we can all join in at home. Look out for more information on this page and social media.
   

5. Fast during Prayer Week
   The Bible teaches the value of fasting in order to focus on prayer and seek God’s will. We would like for our church family to think about fasting and make a plan for this could fit into your routine during Prayer Week. It could be that you decide to fast a single meal, or fast for a day or even longer. To learn about fasting, watch this preach from Tim Dobson on Spiritual Disciplines: Fasting & Feasting.

In addition, on the evening of Monday, 11th January, all of our leaders from homegroups and ministries are invited to gather and pray into our vision for the year ahead on Zoom.

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Prayer Week Resources for Families

Our Woodies Kids team have put together a fantastic set of Prayer Week Resources for Families to help children and parents connect with God during Prayer Week. Check it out!

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Praying for Our Churches

To help us pray for across the Woodlands Group of Churches during Prayer Week, we asked the leaders of each church to share their prayer requests so that we can pray specifically for each of their needs. Watch this short video to help you pray!

Please take some time this week to be praying for:

WOODLANDS 

• Children's and Youth Ministries - especially with team changes

• Plans for South Bristol base and team to support it

• Supernatural presence & power of God in all we do

HIGHGROVE 

• Effective, creative outreach online 

• Online Alpha to really engage people

• Young people to stay connected and energy for the team

ALL SAINTS

• Families from church in these challenging times

• God's wisdom and vision for church in Hartcliffe

METRO

• Connection with God and one another

• Provision of a building in the city centre

COMMUNITY CHURCH & BRANCH

• Prayer Week would bring vision and passion 

• People to deepen their relationship with God

• Fresh creativity in mission to serve local communities

Resolute: Holding On | Matt Dobson at 7pm | 10th of January 2021

How can we do the New Year well?

Audio Block

Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more

10 January 2021 - 7pm Service

Resolute: Holding On

This Sunday we contineud our preaching series Resolute with a message from Matt Dobson on ‘Holding On’.

As we enter into 2021, we’re asking the question: “How can we do the New Year well?” January is renowned for people setting resolutions - but these are often hard to stick to. Change isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible, either. The beliefs and habits we have and the decisions we make influence who we are becoming on a day to day basis.

In this series, we’ll be looking at the foundations we build our lives upon and what happens when everything is shaken. Are our resolutions built on our wisdom, our ability - or His? Self-reflection is really useful tool and we'll be looking at what we need to hold on to and what we should let go of in the year ahead.

Remember, earlier today at the 11am service we heard Hazel Askew speak on the same topic. Go check it out!

Resolute: Standing Strong | Hazel Askew at 11am | 10th of January 2021

How can we do the New Year well?

Audio Block

Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more

10 January 2021 - 11am Service

Resolute: Standing Strong

This Sunday we continued our preaching series Resolute with a message from Hazel Askew on ‘Standing Strong’.

As we enter into 2021, we’re asking the question: “How can we do the New Year well?” January is renowned for people setting resolutions - but these are often hard to stick to. Change isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible, either. The beliefs and habits we have and the decisions we make influence who we are becoming on a day to day basis.

In this series, we’ll be looking at the foundations we build our lives upon and what happens when everything is shaken. Are our resolutions built on our wisdom, our ability - or His? Self-reflection is really useful tool and we'll be looking at what we need to hold on to and what we should let go of in the year ahead.

Remember, our 7pm service will be looking at a different topic, and Matt Dobson will be sharing with us. Check it out!

Woodies Kids | Prayer Week Family Resource

Sometimes we don’t find prayer easy -  we can get hung up a bit, tie ourselves into knots trying to work out how to pray “well” or “properly”, when in fact, it’s as simple as talking to our Father God.

The disciples had got themselves a bit tied up in knots about prayer too. They had decided they didn’t know how to do it, so they asked Jesus what the right way to do it was. They may have been surprised about His answer – He told them to stop praying like people who didn’t know God. He doesn’t need to hear long or complicated prayers. God knows what you need even before you ask. Then He told them to pray like this – and He taught them what we now refer to as “The Lords Prayer”. Although this prayer uses words and phrases that may not be as common or usual as words we have today, it is a very simple prayer, that takes the idea of religious fanciness away and invites us to come to God and talk to Him.

This Prayer week, we will focus on five parts of this prayer that Jesus taught.

Our Father in Heaven

Holy is Your name,

Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as in Heaven.

Give us today our daily bread,

And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Yours is the Kingdom, the power and the Glory

Forever and Ever

Here’s a challenge for you! Can you find time everyday this week to do some of these family prayer ideas? If you have more time, you can look at the other parts of the Lord’s prayer too.

Think about what it means to call God Father. Jesus says that we should call God our “Father in Heaven.”

· How is God like a father to us?

· Can you think of any other names we call God? I’ll start – sometimes we call God Lord. What else? What do those names of God mean to us?

· Make a list of the names for God and spend some time thanking Him for being Creator, Provider, Comforter etc?

This means God’s name is holy and special because God is special. We need to honour God and remember how amazing He is. We turn our thoughts away from ourselves and onto God.

· Listen to this song:

o Spend some time connecting with God – why not draw a picture of worship to God – things that come to mind as you listen.

· Can you list the full alphabet of things you want to praise God for?

o A – You are awesome

o B – You made the beautiful skies

o C – You comfort me when I am sad.

Revelation (221:3) tells us a bit about what the kingdom of Heaven is like:

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever

Heaven is a wonderful place where God rules and all is good. Who doesn’t want to live in a world like that. The world at the moment is very different from that. We know how amazing and perfect God is and when we think of how God designed His Kingdom to be, we want that to happen right here and right now!  We want earth to be as amazing as heaven is.

· What do you think it means to see God’s Kingdom come on earth?

· What one thing can you do today to help earth become a little bit more like heaven for one person?

· Why don’t you try for a whole day to only say encouraging things? Or ask God to highlight one person who you can pray for today, for them to know how perfect God’s kingdom is. Is there anything you can do to encourage them?

When the Israelites fled Egypt with Moses (read about this in Exodus 16) they spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness before they entered the Promised Land. During this time, God provided substance for them to eat every day in the form of bread they called manna. The Israelites had to rely on God each day in order to keep their bodies healthy. In the same way God wants us to rely on him to keep our lives and minds healthy. Although God does provide for our physical needs, we need far more than physical bread alone. We need the bread of life to survive.

Deuteronomy 8:6

‘People do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord”

We can feed our minds by reading the Bible and spending time with God.

· Take some time as a family and read through the Beatitudes and have a think about some ways to practice them.

· Why don’t you think about those verses whilst you make some flatbread

Flatbread Recipe:

· 1 cup flour ; 1 cup plain yoghurt/non-dairy alternative (this is about half a large pot) ;2tsp baking powder.

· Mix together to form a dough.  Split into two or more balls and roll out to less than 1cm thick.

· Put butter or oil into a hot pan and place the rolled out dough into it. Heat for around 4 minutes on each side, you will see it start to form air bubbles.

· Place on a baking tray in the oven at 200'c for 5 minutes

 Today we are going to focus on the bit of the Lord’s prayer that says Yours is the kingdom. By saying this we are saying the God is the King.

Today we want to pray for our friends, for those who know that God is King, that they would experience God’s love for them during this time.

We also want to pray for our friends who don’t know that God is King.  We want to

pray for them to come to know that God loves them.  Why don’t you pick 4-5 friends that you want to pray for, you could do some who know God and some who don’t, then you could try out these prayer activities.

· If you have some lego, building blocks or jenga, write the name of your friend on a block and then each time you pray for them add another block and build a prayer tower for each friend.

· Make a prayer bracelet - Take a piece of string, embroidery thread or ribbon and either tie a knot for every friend or thread a bead onto it for each of your friends.  Each time you see or wear the bracelet you could pray for each of your friends.

· Why don’t you to draw a picture of each of your friends and put it on the fridge or somewhere in your room and each time you see their picture you could pray for them.

You could use this prayer for those who don’t know that God is King: -

“Lord Jesus, we pray that.... may know how much you love him/her.  May s/he come to love and follow you. Amen.”

You could also ask God to show you how you can share His love with them –

(maybe by sending them a card or a picture you made for them).

Resolute: Firm Foundations | Tim Dobson at 7pm | 3rd of January 2021

How can we do the New Year well?

3 January 2021 - 7pm Service

Resolute: Firm Foundations

This Sunday we start our new preaching series Resolute with a message from Tim Dobson on ‘Firm Foundations’.

As we enter into 2021, we’re asking the question: “How can we do the New Year well?” January is renowned for people setting resolutions - but these are often hard to stick to. Change isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible, either. The beliefs and habits we have and the decisions we make influence who we are becoming on a day to day basis.

In this series, we’ll be looking at the foundations we build our lives upon and what happens when everything is shaken. Are our resolutions built on our wisdom, our ability - or His? Self-reflection is really useful tool and we'll be looking at what we need to hold on to and what we should let go of in the year ahead.

Remember, earlier today at the 11am service we heard Dave Mitchell speak on the same topic. Go check it out!

Resolute: Firm Foundations | Dave Mitchell at 11am | 3rd of January 2021

How can we do the New Year well?

3 January 2021 - 11am Service

Resolute: Firm Foundations

This Sunday we start our new preaching series Resolute with a message from Dave Mitchell on ‘Firm Foundations’.

As we enter into 2021, we’re asking the question: “How can we do the New Year well?” January is renowned for people setting resolutions - but these are often hard to stick to. Change isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible, either. The beliefs and habits we have and the decisions we make influence who we are becoming on a day to day basis.

In this series, we’ll be looking at the foundations we build our lives upon and what happens when everything is shaken. Are our resolutions built on our wisdom, our ability - or His? Self-reflection is really useful tool and we'll be looking at what we need to hold on to and what we should let go of in the year ahead.

Remember, our 7pm service is also looking at this topic, and Tim Dobson will be sharing with us. Check it out!