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Partake Virtual Church 02 – Virtual Reality
G’day and welcome to Partake Ministries. We continue our investigation into Virtual Church, and this week, briefly introduce Virtual Reality.
1. Virtual Reality
Since the advent of the Internet in 1957 and the subsequent arrival of the home Personal Computer and the World Wide Web (WWW), people have been using these tools for a myriad of reasons including research, education and communication.
With this increase of communication, it was not long until Internet communities were formed. These communities could be broken down into three kinds: subjective (people gathering with similar interests); objective (a gathering of people affected by similar interests); and defining authority (people gathering whose identity was formed by allegiance to a common authority). However, some critics dismiss the concept due to it being by definition, word-based and full of self-interest. Others argue that they can become closed and subjective. However, that is true of any kind of community – virtual or not. Juxtaposed to these concepts is the knowledge that technology is advancing with greater methods of interaction becoming available and global barriers collapsing which make communication and understanding between global citizens possible.
With these virtual communities came the world of ‘Virtual Reality’, to coexist with physical reality (all the properties of fundamental physics).
Virtual Reality, according to The New Penguin English Dictionary is “a computer-simulated environment with which a person can interact almost as if it were part of the real world.” This Internet, or Virtual Reality, is a model of social interaction, whereby time, space and body are transcended in which to form relationships. However, these relationships are not limited to the virtual world, but have some links to the world offline, in so far as they cannot be precisely divorced from each other due to the import of offline interest to a Virtual Reality. In doing this, people of similar interests, or enquiring after spiritual matters, are able to bring offline interests to the world of Virtual Reality. It is here that a virtual church can thrive, educate, inform and satisfy.
As the Church continues through the twenty-first century, and as technology marches inexorably onwards, a new kind of church has been birthed. This is a church that does not meet in a specific locale, but gathers in Virtual Reality. So - in our next study, we shall explore if God can interact with humans in a Virtual Reality Environment.
Thank you.
If you have found these resources helpful to you, please do prayerfully consider making a donation. It does cost me money to produce these resources, mainly the storage facility and the bandwidth. I have very little other means of support. Thank you
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G’day and welcome to Partake Ministries. In this series, we will be investigating an exciting new kind of church. As the Church enters the twenty-first century, and as technology marches inexorably onwards, a new kind of church has been birthed. This is a church that does not meet in a specific locale, but gathers in what is called “Virtual Reality”.
Questions we will ask in this series are:
Virtual Church is only just beginning in real terms and within the 2000 years of Church History. As technologies evolve and their use becomes ever increasingly widespread, the Church of Jesus Christ needs to adapt consistently, in order that it remains ‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic’ body, constantly engaging in fellowship, worship, mission and bible teaching. By enabling those who are unable to get to traditional forms of church, whether for physical, psychological or geographical reasons, the Church needs to be open to all. Enabling isolated churches, isolated Christian communities and isolated individuals to meet in a Virtual Church, will lead to Jesus Christ who is the head of the church, being glorified. The Virtual Church will not supplant traditional local churches, but will rather harmonize with it. However, if a person can get to a traditional local church, then they probably should attend that church and be involved there as well as a Virtual Church. The Virtual Church is one part of the “one, holy catholic and apostolic church”. An exciting future lies ahead for the Universal Church, to which we continue to cry together “Come Lord Jesus Come”.
In the next of this series, we will look at a brief introduction to Virtual Reality. Thank you.
If you have found these resources helpful to you, please do prayerfully consider making a donation. It does cost me money to produce these resources, mainly the storage facility and the bandwith link. I have very little other means of support. Thank you
Standard Podcasts [ 2:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (11)Do Not Despise Jesus’ Sacrifice
Part 1 – Just Stop! - Persevere in obedience (v26-31)
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the Law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Part 2 – Do Remember! - Persevere by remembering (v32-34)
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
Part 3 – Hope Confidently - Persevere for reward (v35-39)
35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while,
“He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38 But my righteous one will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him.”
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
If you have found these resources helpful to you, please do prayerfully consider making a donation. It does cost me money to produce these resources, mainly the storage facility and the bandwith link. I have very little other means of support. Thank you
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Resurrection means rising or raising up. It certainly means more than coming back to life as some people think. Jesus raised three people from the dead, but that was more a resuscitation than a resurrection - those three people would die again! So lets start by looking at Jesus’ resurrection.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ provides the central theme for the sermons and teaching in the early church (Acts 1v22; Acts 4v33, Acts 17v18). But what significance is there in Jesus’ resurrection?
Jesus’ resurrection proves and vindicates all of His teaching. It certifies His claims to be the suffering Servant, just as it attests to His being fully God and the last Judge of all mankind (Isaiah 53v10-12; Acts 2v36; Acts 3v13-15; Romans 1v4).
God’s approval of Jesus obedient service and the fulfilment of all the Old Testament promises is declared through the resurrection. The result of which, is forgiveness of sins and salvation being only found in and through Jesus Christ. In the early church this was the prime motive for evangelism (Acts 2v32, Romans 4v24-25)
As the resurrected King, Jesus now intercedes for us. More than that, He has perfected the redemption of all those who choose to follow Him (Romans 5v10; Hebrews 6v20, 1 Peter 1v21).
These facts remain for Jesus’ resurrection, despite what some people say including Islam and other detractors of historical Christianity.
The changed attitude of the disciples after seeing the risen Jesus. The disciples changed from defeated, cowardly people into victorious, brave and bold people. Nobody who could have produced the dead body of Jesus did so. This led to the survival and inordinate growth and impact of the early church. If there was no bodily resurrection of Jesus’ would people really have risked persecution and death for a known lie? Finally, there were multiple appearances of Jesus! These appearances were to various numbers of individuals and groups of people, at various times of the day and in differing circumstances.
Jesus’ resurrection is a sign of the bodily resurrection for all those who believe and trust in Him during their earthly life! This should give you a new attitude to death and the transforming of hopes (1 Corinthians 15v12-58, Romans 8v10, 2 Corinthians 4v14; 1 Peter 1v3 & 21)
The bodily resurrection of the dead, those who are saved and those who are unsaved, is clearly taught in Bible (John 5v28-29; Acts 24v15). Christ’s resurrection is the guarantee of our resurrection (1 Corinthians 15v20-22)
Christian Disciples resurrected body will be:
Those who are or were non-believers will be resurrected (John 5v28-29), but not entered into heaven but rather cast into the lake of fire. It makes the work of evangelism for all Christian Disciples, all the more imperative. Go tell somebody today, the good news about what Jesus resurrection means to them.
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