Truth Encounters: Pilate - David Mitchell

July 29th 2018. Truth encounters: Pilate. (John 18:32-40). In this final ‘truth encounter’ Jesus stands before the most powerful man in Jerusalem, the representative of the Roman Emperor himself, Pontius Pilate. Pilate is the furthest from the faith of Judaism too, and represents perhaps a view that corresponds to the contemporary distrust of absolutes. John’s gospel is concerned with Truth however. The Greek word for truth Alethia occurs 25 times and it has connotations of faithfulness and ‘unveiling’ as well as factual truth. Download Discussion notes

People of God: Mary: God's servant - Clare Thompson (7pm Podcast)

July 29th 2018. People of God: Mary - God’s servant (Luke 1). Plucked from obscurity by an angelic visitation the mother of Jesus is introduced in the first chapter of Luke’s gospel, with a remarkably calm response to a ‘mind-blowing’ announcement. Mary is tasked with the most important job all of human history - giving birth to the son of God himself. As a very young woman in a patriarchal society with little influence or experience, she is not perhaps the archetypal heroine, and yet Mary makes her mark by responding to the angel’s message announcing the supernatural pregnancy with great trust and courage. Download Discussion notes

Truth Encounters: Pilate - David Mitchell (am Podcast)

July 29th 2018. Truth encounters: Pilate. (John 18:32-40). In this final ‘truth encounter’ Jesus stands before the most powerful man in Jerusalem, the representative of the Roman Emperor himself, Pontius Pilate. Pilate is the furthest from the faith of Judaism too, and represents perhaps a view that corresponds to the contemporary distrust of absolutes. John’s gospel is concerned with Truth however. The Greek word for truth Alethia occurs 25 times and it has connotations of faithfulness and ‘unveiling’ as well as factual truth. Download Discussion notes

People of God: Moses: God's call - Tim Dobson and Matt Smith

July 22nd 2018. People of God - Moses. Start off with feedback from Sunday's message. What did those that were there - or those that have caught up online - take away from it? What encouraged them, what informed them and what challenged them? Spend some time discussing the response to the message and the issues that it raised. Download Discussion notes

Truth Encounters: Disciples - Rob Scott-Cook

July 29th 2018. Truth encounters: Pilate. (John 18:32-40). In this final ‘truth encounter’ Jesus stands before the most powerful man in Jerusalem, the representative of the Roman Emperor himself, Pontius Pilate. Pilate is the furthest from the faith of Judaism too, and represents perhaps a view that corresponds to the contemporary distrust of absolutes. John’s gospel is concerned with Truth however. The Greek word for truth Alethia occurs 25 times and it has connotations of faithfulness and ‘unveiling’ as well as factual truth. Download Discussion notes

People of God: Moses: God's call - Tim Dobson and Matt Smith (7 pm Podcast)

July 22nd 2018. People of God - Moses. Start off with feedback from Sunday's message. What did those that were there - or those that have caught up online - take away from it? What encouraged them, what informed them and what challenged them? Spend some time discussing the response to the message and the issues that it raised. Download Discussion notes

Truth Encounters: Disciples - Rob Scott-Cook (am Podcast)

July 29th 2018. Truth encounters: Pilate. (John 18:32-40). In this final ‘truth encounter’ Jesus stands before the most powerful man in Jerusalem, the representative of the Roman Emperor himself, Pontius Pilate. Pilate is the furthest from the faith of Judaism too, and represents perhaps a view that corresponds to the contemporary distrust of absolutes. John’s gospel is concerned with Truth however. The Greek word for truth Alethia occurs 25 times and it has connotations of faithfulness and ‘unveiling’ as well as factual truth. Download Discussion notes

Hannah's Story

Hannah shares with us her story of God's faithfulness in her life.

Devotion Does 100 Acts of Courage

For teenagers at Devotion, summer is often a chance to unwind, relax and switch off from the busy world of school life. We love that things slow down a bit and that fun is well and truly at the top of the agenda.

We're excited, however, that this summer we will be mixing down time with acts of bravery with a new initiative we are calling 100 Acts of Courage.

The idea is simple, over the course of the 6 weeks, we are asking every young person to do one or two simple acts of courage; it could be speaking to a family member on the phone, telling someone about Jesus or writing to an MP about a political issue. Whatever it is, we aim to collectively do 100 amazing acts together.

So, Devotees, get your courage caps on and get out there! Let us know what you've done by taking a photo, writing a sentence about it and either emailing Chris at chris.duncan@woodlandschurch.net or tagging @devoyouth on instagram.

We can't wait to see what amazing things God does through this!

People of God: David: Man after God's heart - Rob Scott-Cook

July 15th 2018. People of God: David. (1 & 2 Samuel) The story of David takes up a huge portion of the narrative history of the people of God in the Old Testament. David also writes many of the Psalms, and is pivotal to the story of Israel both in his ancestry and his descendants and their histories. Why is such a large part of scripture devoted to someone who could be described as an adulterer and a ‘man of blood’? Download Discussion notes

n.b. please note due to a technical error this is just an audio recording

People of God: David: Man after God's heart - Rob Scott-Cook (7pm Podcast)

July 15th 2018. People of God: David. (1 & 2 Samuel) The story of David takes up a huge portion of the narrative history of the people of God in the Old Testament. David also writes many of the Psalms, and is pivotal to the story of Israel both in his ancestry and his descendants and their histories. Why is such a large part of scripture devoted to someone who could be described as an adulterer and a ‘man of blood’? Download Discussion notes

Truth Encounters: Women - Tim Dobson

July 15th 2018. Truth Encounters: Woman: (John 4) This week we see a polar opposite truth encounter from Nicodemus in John 3. Instead of a socially elite, Jewish male religious expert we see a socially excluded, samaritan woman. She encounters the truth that sets you free when she meets Jesus, who knows her. She reminds me of Hagar, another foreign excluded woman who in Genesis 16 encounters the angel of God at a well and says 'I have now seen the one who sees me'. Download Discussion notes

Truth Encounters: Women - Tim Dobson (am Podcast)

July 15th 2018. Truth Encounters: Woman: (John 4) This week we see a polar opposite truth encounter from Nicodemus in John 3. Instead of a socially elite, Jewish male religious expert we see a socially excluded, samaritan woman. She encounters the truth that sets you free when she meets Jesus, who knows her. She reminds me of Hagar, another foreign excluded woman who in Genesis 16 encounters the angel of God at a well and says 'I have now seen the one who sees me'. Download Discussion notes

Preaching Series Round Up: May & June 2018

Preaching Series Round Up: May & June 2018

If you missed any of our May or June morning or 7pm series you can catch up on the talks and preaching notes on the links below. Don't forget you can also listen to our talks on our Woodlands Church Preaching & Talks Podcast.

People of God: Jonah: God of surprises - Nigel Savage

July 8th 2018. People of God: Jonah. The big characters and stories of the Bible give us insight into the way Jesus deals with individuals as well as nations. Jonah gives insight into both. God is concerned with a whole nation, but he has much to teach the individual prophet about his character and ways. Download Discussion notes

Truth Encounters: Nicodemus - Clare Thompson

July 8th 2018. Truth encounters: Nicodemus. (John 3) The gospels give us stories of Jesus encountering all kinds of people. Jesus who comes ‘full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14) speaks truth into the lives of people he meets. The ultimate truth is that Jesus is ‘the only begotten son of God’. Perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible is in this chapter, John 3:16. Download Discussion notes

Truth Encounters: Nicodemus - Clare Thompson (am Podcast)

July 8th 2018. Truth encounters: Nicodemus. (John 3) The gospels give us stories of Jesus encountering all kinds of people. Jesus who comes ‘full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14) speaks truth into the lives of people he meets. The ultimate truth is that Jesus is ‘the only begotten son of God’. Perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible is in this chapter, John 3:16. Download Discussion notes

People of God: Jonah: God of surprises - Nigel Savage (7pm Podcast

July 8th 2018. People of God: Jonah. The big characters and stories of the Bible give us insight into the way Jesus deals with individuals as well as nations. Jonah gives insight into both. God is concerned with a whole nation, but he has much to teach the individual prophet about his character and ways. Download Discussion notes

Building Tomorrow's Church Today: Leadership - Rob Scott-Cook

June 17th 2018. Building tomorrow’s Church today: Leadership: Ephesians 4:11-13. An absolute priority in building tomorrow’s Church is the role of leadership. Bill Hybells says ‘When a leader gets better, everyone wins’. The Church in the UK is looking hard at leadership and recognising traditional models of leadership need to change. In fact perhaps these traditional models have contributed to the decline of the Church and we need to re-imagine the practice of leadership in the C21. The passage in Ephesians looks at some diverse leadership roles in the Church and how they are ‘gifts’ to the Church from the risen Jesus. Download Discussion notes

Power Encounters: Blind - Rob Scott-Cook

June 17th 2017. Power encounters: Blind. (John 9) The gospels give us stories of Jesus encountering all kinds of people. Many of those people had real needs and their encounter with Jesus turned out to be a ‘power encounter.’ In Jesus, the ‘powers of the age to come’ broke into their lives in healing, deliverance, provision and challenge. The power encounters we read about serve as an encouragement of the grace of God, but also a challenge to us about living a spirit empowered life. Download Discussion notes