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Bible-themed TV drama doubles as church sermon starter
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The popular television series "A.D.: The Bible Continues" is not only a Sunday-evening must see for many viewers they're also getting sermons based on the show's themes in church. - photo by Mark A. Kellner
The popular NBC television series "A.D.: The Bible Continues" is not only a Sunday-evening must see for many viewers they're also getting sermons based on the show's themes in church.

Although producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey say the series, which began its run on Easter Sunday, is based on the New Testament book of Acts (more formally known as "The Acts of the Apostles"), they acknowledge the show does take some dramatic license.

That makes building sermons on the television show a bit treacherous, Pastor Mark Rounsaville, of the Baptist Temple in Springfield, Missouri, told KY3-TV.

"Well, the benefit of preaching along with the A.D. series is that millions of people are going to be watching it, they're going to be tuned in to it, and our people are going to be watching it, and so preaching along with it we're able to capitalize on it's attention," Rounsaville said. "But (we will) also be ready to make any corrections or clarifications compared to what Hollywood would show and what the Bible actually says."

According to George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God denomination, the TV series can help spark public interest in the Bible's message.

"My prayer," Wood told PENews.com, "is that this series will ignite a passion for today's believers to move forward with the Spirit's empowerment to spread the message of hope in Christ to a world desperate to know Him."

Not every pastor views an A.D.-themed sermon series as preaching manna from heaven, however.

"Because of that creative license, it could lend some confusion for people who are not particularly well-versed with scripture and who will use a movie as a basis for the Bible as opposed to going to the actual story in the scripture," says the Rev. Reed Shell, senior pastor at Hixson United Methodist Church in Tennessee told the Columbia Daily Herald.

Another Tennessee congregation, the East Chattanooga Church of God, offers sermons and Bible studies based on the show, and outreach pastor Leah Hooper said she had no problem with the dramatizations.

"The thing about 'A.D.' I have respected is that it hasnt, to my knowledge, added anything we dont see in the gospels," says Hooper. "Theyve imagined some things differently that werent explicitly written in the scripture, but there is nothing that opposes the scripture."

Perhaps the most ambitious sermon series related to the show comes from television preacher David Jeremiah, who is devoting 12 weeks of his "Turning Point" series to messages related to the series. The sermons are preached at Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California, where Jeremiah is senior pastor.
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