Highland International Church

If we are to make sense of the world and our place in it - including knowing how to respond to the challenges posed by climate change and the apocalyptic warnings given by some - then we need to begin at the beginning. The opening words of Genesis give us a solid foundation and mean that, as Christians, we are neither passive nor panic-stricken.

Listen to David Hendrickse as he opens up Daniel chapter 6 for us and shows us the king who couldn't save and the God who could - and still does today.

Daniel 5 - a sober warning of how God acts - and will act - to judge those who persist in dishonouring his name. Belshazzar's feast was a blasphemous affair. This, despite Belshazzar knowing that had happened to Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4). God's judgement came upon him, as it will for every sinner who is weighed in the balances of God's righteousness and justice and found wanting - which is all of...

In Daniel 4 we are told 3 times of the God who is sovereign over the kingdoms of this earth and who gives them to anyone he pleases. It was a lesson King Nebuchadnezzar was slow to learn. His was a life centred on 'I, me and my'. So we see in Daniel 4 how God in his mercy deals with the problem of pride by humbling Nebuchadnezzar out of his pride, so that the king of Babylon learns to sing a new s...

David Hendrickse opens up Daniel 3 and asks us which version of heaven will we live for.

In a world of confusion, uncertainty and fear, we need more than a 'Covid booster' - we need a 'confidence booster' and more especially a 'confidence booster in God.' The story in Daniel 2 gives us that by its injection of God's word, administered by the Spirit, showing us two things: 1. What kind of God God is 2. What kind of future lies ahead for this world and for God's people

Here is a postscript to last week's message from Daniel 2 focussing on v 25 to 30 and addressing the question, Does God still speak through dreams today?

In Daniel chapter 2 we see the most powerful man in Babylon powerless and the wisest men clueless when it comes to knowing and interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream. "There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks!" But there is a God in heaven who can and, unlike the false gods, he does dwell with the lowly and contrite in spirit (Isaiah 57 v 15) - with men like Daniel and his friends. And...

Daniel chapter 1. Preacher David Hendrickse

The book of Daniel takes us on a journey from Jerusalem to Babylon and helps us to learn how to sing the Lord's song in a strange land (Ps 137). It teaches us one big message: that, despite appearances and whatever our situation, God is sovereign; and has one big aim: to encourage us to trust God and be true to him in all circumstances, however difficult and challenging.

Psalm 126 is a Psalm of two halves - but both are focussed on the Lord who has done great things for us and has promised to do them again.

Paul's last words to his brothers and sisters in Thessalonica brings him to the blessing of grace - not grace as a 'thing' like some kind of magic powder to be sprinkled on your cornflakes or spiritual caffeine to give you wings - but the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace bound up with the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the Thessalonians needed to keep following the way...

At the end of his letter, Paul prays for his brothers and sisters in Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 5 v 23, 24). His prayer is grounded in the character of God, its goal is nothing less than their thorough-going holiness and his horizon, as he prays, is filled with a vision of the return of the Lord Jesus in all his glory. And it's that perspective which means Paul's priorities in prayer are often...

We are to test all things in order to hold on to that which is good, 1 Thess 5 v 21. In the context of 1 Thess 5, this means testing or weighing carefully any ministry or message that claims to be from God or to be a ministry of the Word of God. This is not an invitation to be become a heresy hunter or a self-righteous nit-picker. But Scripture itself gives us 5 ways in which we can humbly and wis...

What does it mean to quench the Spirit? And how can we avoid it? 1 Thess 5 v 19 - 22 part 1

Paul's instructions in 1 Thess 5 v 16 - 18 are pretty clear. Our problem is not in understanding them but in putting them into practice. But the key to our help is found 'in Christ Jesus' - for this is God's will for us in him.

In 1 Thessalonians 5 v 12 to 15 Paul writes to strengthen relationships: relationships with the church leadership and relationships within the wider church family as well. Key phrases to look out for are 'in the Lord' and 'in love'; and the fruit of 'peace' and 'patience.'

This second look at Luke 18 v 18 - 30 examines the challenge Jesus gave to rich ruler to show that he truly believed Jesus was 'good' and that he had no other gods before the Lord God. God gave the 10 commandments in the context of redeeming grace and it is when we see and grasp the redeeming grace of God in Jesus Christ that we are liberated to sing - and to live - all for Jesus.

What is the biggest problem affecting the human heart? Jesus exposes our biggest problem in this dramatic and challenging encounter in Luke 18  18 - 30. Part 1 of 2

We don't know when Christ will return, but we do know he is coming back - on that great and dreadful Day of the Lord. How are Christians to live, here and now, in the light of the Lord's return? Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5 v 4 - 11

1 Thessalonians 5 v 1 - 3

In 1 Thessalonians 4 v 13 - 19, Paul points us to the foundation and focus of Christian Hope: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the return of Jesus Christ. That's why Christians do not grieve as those without hope and why we should encourage each other with these words

In 1 Thessalonians 4 v 9 to 12, Paul tells us about Philadelphia: brotherly and sisterly love in the family of Jesus Christ. It's a God-taught love; a love that grows; and a love that works, for the good of the church and the church's witness to the world.

We are living in a land of confusion. Not least in the area of sexual morality and sexual behaviour. In fact, our society is rapidly returning to the kind of norms that prevailed when the apostle Paul was alive. So what he writes to the Thessalonians in 4 v 1 - 8 is of great relevance to us today. It is a timely word for those who know God, who have been called by God to do the will of God and to...

1 Thessalonians 3 v 11 - 13