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Self Sacrificial Love
Self Sacrificial Love
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March Prayer Calendar
March Prayer Calendar
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Renovation of the Heart
Renovation of the Heart
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Prayer is the Key
Prayer is the Key

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

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

An Attitude of Gratitude
6 July at 11am with Rachel Riddall

Overcoming Fear
13 July at 11am with Dave Mitchell

Navigating Uncertainty
20 July at 11am with Jake Perrins

An Attitude of Gratitude
6 July at 6:30pm with Ruth Morgans

Overcoming Fear
13 July at 6:30pm with Nigel Savage

Navigating Uncertainty
20 July at 6:30pm with Dave Mitchell

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

Everyone’s Invited:
1 June at 11am with Clare Thompson

Good News for Everyone:
8 June at 11am with Johnny Walker

Freedom for Everyone:
22 June at 11am with Clare Thompson

Worship for Everyone:
29 June at 11am with Dave Mitchell

Everyone’s Invited:
1 June at 6.30pm with Dave Mitchell

Good News for Everyone:
8 June at 6.30pm with Dave Mitchell

Freedom for Everyone:
22 June at 6.30pm with Matt Dobson

Worship for Everyone:
29 June at 6.30pm with Ed Marsh

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

Our Culture: Welcoming
4 May at 11am with Tim Dobson

Our Culture: Authentic
11 May at 11am with Hazel Askew

Our Culture: Empowered
18 May at 11am with Rachel Riddall

Our Culture: Expectant
25 May at 6.30pm with Clare Thompson

Our Culture: Welcoming
4 May at 6.30pm with Dave Roderick

Our Culture: Authentic
11 May at 6.30pm with Nigel Savage

Our Culture: Expectant
25 May at 11am with Dave Mitchell

Our Culture: Empowered
1 June at 6.30pm with Dave Mitchell

Woodlands Church, Belgrave Road, Bristol BS8 2AA