The Book of Acts will soon be brought to primetime television, with accompanying theological input from Assemblies of God leaders, through NBC’s A.D. The Bible Continues. In early 2013, the husband-and-wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey say they had a vision to share the life-changing stories of the Bible to millions of people throughout the world. Burnett was uniquely equipped for the task as the producer of several of television’s most-watched series, including Survivor, The Voice, Shark Tank, and The Apprentice.
While Burnett remained hopeful, Hollywood was equally skeptical. Turned down by the major networks, The Bible Series was picked up on cable by The History Channel for its television debut.
Much to the surprise of various network executives, The Bible Series quickly began to dominate Sunday night television viewing. The largest cable television audience of 2013 — 13.1 million viewers — saw the first episode of the series. By the end of its cable debut, more than 100 million viewers had watched The Bible Series.
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Burnett and Downey saw the success as a sign to springboard them to carry the message of the Church in the Book of Acts to hundreds of millions of TV viewers. A.D. The Bible Continues is the result. The miniseries will launch April 5 — Easter — and will run 12 weeks, concluding on Father’s Day.
As the new series began to take shape, Burnett and Downey, known for portraying the angel Monica on the nine seasons of Touched By an Angel on CBS, recognized the need for viewers to dive deeper into the stories of Acts. They knew the miniseries would create an opportunity for churches, pastors, and small groups to reinforce the Spirit-empowered message with solid, biblical truth. The A.D. production team reached out to the Assemblies of God to devise the sermons for an accompanying church kit.
The Official A.D. Church Kit is a twelve week campaign for the A.D. series. It has designed to take viewers deeper into the first 10 chapters of Acts. The 12-week campaign includes sermons from Assemblies of God leaders such as Dr. George O. Wood, Mark Batterson, Rob Ketterling, Wilfredo “Choco” De Jesús, and Christine Caine.
“We’ve been given an incredible opportunity to see one of the foremost networks take the message of Acts to millions of people throughout the world on primetime television,” says Dr. George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God. “I challenge my Pentecostal brothers and sisters to join me in prayer over the next few weeks for an unparalleled revival in our nation.”
The twelve weeks of sermons included in the church kit were made to coincide with the weekly theme viewed by millions through NBC's primetime broadcast.
Photo credit: Stills Photography by Joe Alblas/LightWorkers Media/NBC
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The Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith
