This week we looked at the Book of Proverbs, understanding a bit about the structure, content, life application and how we see Jesus here.
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
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
Book of Psalms with Tim Dobson and Megan Nurcombe
This week we looked at the Book of Psalms. Who wrote these poems, how should we read them and how can we find Jesus in amongst some great psalms of worship, intercession and lament?
The Book of Job with Dr Philip Thomas
Our first session of Summer Bible School looked at the book of Job. Dan Viner hosted the evening and we were joined by Dr Philip Thomas who took us through the book at the start of our Wisdom Literature series.
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
Woodlands Bible School - Jude
Anna Anderson tells us how to read the book of Jude well
Navigating Life with the Psalms Series
Navigating Life with the Psalms Series
Our emotions can be mystifying. Science struggles to fully explain their origin and for Christians, they can be both life enhancing and seriously undermining! God created us to experience emotions, but wants to give us godly ways to manage them.
The Psalms—ancient Jewish poems of prayer and praise— can give voice to some of our deepest emotions. They are timeless, profoundly human, and deeply spiritual prayers that can help us process life. One aspect of the Psalms is how they can help move us along when we get stuck! They guide us on journeys from sorrow to joy, fear to faith, longing to fulfilment, despair to hope.
Over the next few weeks we will be enlisting the help of the Psalms to help us process some of our most common emotions. As we take the opportunity that summer brings to recharge our relationship with God, we want to dig into the literary and psychological genius of these three thousand year old prayers.
Our talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at:
An Attitude of Gratitude - 6th July
Overcoming Fear - 13th July
Navigating Uncertainty - 20th July
Contending for Contentment - 27th July
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
The Holy Spirit for Everyone Series
The Holy Spirit for Everyone Series
As a church, we want to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. As Pentecost Sunday approaches on the 8th June, we will be thinking about the gift of the Holy Spirit. But there’s more to it than that.
Living the Christian life is impossible without the help of the Spirit. Our character growth depends on the fruit of the Spirit. Our prayer life depends on the unction of the Spirit. Our ministry depends on the power of the Spirit.
On the day of Pentecost the promise of the Spirit was for everyone (Acts 2:39). This series looks at some of the aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit - for everyone.
Our talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at:
Everyone’s Invited – 1st June
Good News for Everyone – 8th June (Pentecost and Global Partners Weekend)
Generosity for Everyone – 15th June
Freedom for Everyone – 22nd June
Worship for Everyone – 29th June
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
Final Spring Bible School session on Genesis
Here is the audio for the final Spring Bible School session on Genesis, looking at “Where is Jesus seen in Genesis”?
Spring Bible School - Genesis part 3
Here is the audio for the third session on our Spring Bible School. Here we cover Genesis ch12-50
Spring Bible School - Genesis Part 2
We continue our journey through Genesis looking at the Fall, Cain & Abel, Noah & the flood, and the Tower of Babel as we see the impact and spread of rebellion against God.
Our Culture Series
Our Culture Series
This May and June, all of our congregations across the Woodlands Church Family are sharing a preaching series called Our Culture where we’ll be looking at four values that shape our life together.
Our talks in this series will look at how we aim to be:
Welcoming
Authentic
Empowered
Expectant
As a church family spread out over eight sites, we're increasingly trying to call together the distinctives that help us understand the shared mission and journey that we're on. It's difficult to boil all of our culture and values down into simple, memorable phrases, but we're going to do our best in this series.
A particular distinctive about the Woodlands Church Family is the ‘both/and’ idea and concept that runs through so much of what we do in our theology and our practice. And you'll find it running through this sermon series as well.
We want to unpack some key things that you'll find and experience if you come into any of our celebrations, gatherings and communities around the city and region.
Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week. We hope you find the questions useful to help you look at these values in more detail.
See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!
MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES
Spring Bible School - Genesis 1
Here is an introduction to the book of Genesis and a closer look at the creation narrative
Spring Bible School - starts 22nd April
Here at Woodlands we love the Bible. It is an inspiring, supernatural book, but at times hard to understand. Woodlands Bible School helps you to grapple with different books of the Bible and themes within it. This spring we are going to take four evenings to take a deep dive into the book of Genesis.
Join us from Tuesday 22nd April at 7.30pm in the Foyer at Woodlands Central. All welcome
8am Talks
Here are a selection of messages shared at our 8am services, with the most recent talks appearing at the top of the list…
Reading John's Letters Well with Dave Roderick (Mar 2025)
This month Dave Roderick takes a look at the letters of 1, 2, and 3 John. You can listen to the audio from the link below
Dinner with Jesus Series
Dinner with Jesus Series
As we lead up to Easter we are looking at Jesus in the gospels through the lens of meals he shared with people. We get to see Jesus’ heart toward others and how He used meals to minister to those around Him. Meals welcome others into our lives and help others feel invited and included.
This seven week series will help us see how we can use meals, like Jesus did, to reach out and connect to those around us. In our discussion notes below, we’ve included a handful of questions for you to discuss as a group as well as a challenge to apply the teaching in a practical way each week.
Our talks in this series will look at the following topics:
16th March – Supper with Sinners
23rd March – Would you like a fish sandwich?
30th March – The Uninvited Guest
6th April – Who’s coming to the dinner party?
13th April – One Last Meal Together
20th April – Easter Sunday
27th April – Breakfast on the Beach
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
Prophecy Mini-Series
Prophecy Mini-Series
As a charismatic church, from time to time we press in on teaching around our values on the work of the Spirit and the kingdom of God. Last year, we focused on healing and this March we are looking at prophecy.
We are a prophetic people and we are all encouraged to pursue the gift of prophecy. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14 - “...eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy."
This mini-series over two weeks will explore the prophetic:
What do we mean when we talk about prophecy?
How do we discern and weigh prophecy?
We hope that these talks will help us find our way forward as individuals and as a community.
Talks in this mini-series are titled:
2nd March: The water we swim in
9th March: Test everything
Watch this 90-second video with Dave Mitchell explaining the vision for the series.
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
Reading Ezra Well with Tim Dobson (Feb 2025)
The book of Ezra records the time when God was on the move and people responded to His call on their lives to rebuild the temple. What does this book have to tell us as we seek to follow God wholeheartedly today?
