America’s Funniest Videos is quick to make us laugh. We watch people falling down, wiping out, stumbling in and messing up. It’s a great escape from the pressures of life, and somehow laughing at others makes it a bit easier to laugh at ourselves.

But, is a simple show like AFV enough to help us deal with the stress and anxiety we face? Is there more we can do to overcome the things that steal our joy and rob us of laughter?

Today, our Lead Pastor, Bart Wilkins tells us that God gave us an incredibly effective 4-step plan to help us find hope and joy for our lives and, if we put these steps into practice, God will bring the joy and laughter back into our lives.

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Link to “TV Mind Control” video show at the end of the service.

We watch action/adventure shows on TV because we are often not willing to pay the price to experience it for ourselves. We’re afraid of what it might cost us. We’re afraid we might fail. We’re afraid we’ll get in over our heads. So, we sit on our couch and watch others have all of the fun.

This week, our lead Pastor, Bart Wilkins, uses the Superbowl to show us that if we are willing to step out in faith and engage ourselves in a life of passionately following Christ, we will experience the most exciting, adventurous lifestyle humanity has ever known.

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We love a good mystery, but unfortunately, we often fail to take time to discuss the greatest mystery of all. Why am I here? What is God planning to do with my life? What should I be doing? We are confused by life’s mystery and are tempted to give up trying to figure it out.

This week, our lead pastor, Bart Wilkins uses the TV show LOST to tell us that if you want to understand the mystery of life, you need the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.

Link to download file.

In our everyday lives, we are inundated with so much information, yet, we are ignorant of the most important things. We are wise to the things of the world, yet foolish to the things of God.

This week, our lead pastor, Bart Wilkins takes a look at the news program, Dateline, and tells us that we must become a “fool” to be wise.

Direct link to download file.

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We hate the drama in our lives and don’t always know what to do. We either give up or do something that makes it worse.

This week, as we continue our TV Guide series, our Lead Pastor, Bart Wilkins looks at the show Desperate Housewives and shows us that to effectively deal with the drama in our lives, we need to learn how to live “God’s Way”.

Direct link to file.

Link to Gods Promises, Bart mentions in his message.

P.R.A.Y. - Acronym to help you pray. Here’s a link to help you learn how to use it.

Have you ever thought that you were meant to do something extraordinary?

Have you ever thought you were meant to be someone special?

This week, our Lead Pastor, Bart Wilkins begins a new message series entitled, TV Guide by looking at a new show called Heroes where we learn that every hero must learn his purpose and then be tested and called to greatness.

Direct link to the podcast.

In the last part of the message, we played a video clip of two japanese men talking. There were sub-titles in the video but sub-titles don’t translate well in audio so here is the script of what they said:

[Man 1] As I develop my powers, I’ll learn to bend space, too. Then I can tele-port myself anywhere on the planet.

[Man 2] Like Star Trek.

[Man 1] Yeah like Star Trek. Every hero must learn his purpose. Then he’ll be tested and called to greatness.

The other day, I received an email inviting me to participate in a Nielsen TV Ratings program. By becoming a part of the program, all I have to do is report to the Nielsen Media Research Company how much TV I watch and what shows I’m watching.

Sounds simple enough; but do I really want other people to know what I’m watching, and how much I’m watching it? Do I really want to know?

I concluded that I wasn’t ready to come to terms with my viewing habits. Then I justified my conclusion, and deleted the email.

The question still haunted me, however, and I kept asking myself, “Am I watching too much TV?” “Should I really be watching the shows I’m watching?”

And so I ask you the same thing: How much time are you wasting in front of the TV?

In January, I’m going to tackle this question, among others, in an extremely fun, yet challenging way. We’re going to use clips from some fo the hottest shows on television: Heroes, Lost, and, yes, even Desperate Housewives. Even Super Bowl XLI gets in on the action.

This isn’t just an exercise in time management. We’re going to investigate why we watch the shows we watch. Then we’re going to take that information and figure out what God wants us to do with it.

“Why are we doing this,” you ask. Because I believe God wants us to live life to the fullest, not simply watch others pretend. I’m not asking you to boycott television or quit watching your favorite shows. But you will be given plenty of opportunities to get off the couch and into your world that is in need of a life-transforming relationship with God.

Don’t miss this series! The entertainment begins January 7!

*Bring us your funniest video - We’ll use them in our 2/11 service!

Stay tuned…

The TV Guide series will begin Jan 7, 2007.