Tri-State Community Church - Sermons

Life is full of ups and downs--pleasantries and unpleasantries. In this message, Rick sets our focus on one of the great gems in the Joseph narrative, namely, how to handle awful circumstances, suffering, future uncertainty and even prosperity.

In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson presents a view of baptism espoused by the Westminster Confession of Faith challenging us to see that baptism is not a sign of the believer’s faith but a sign of Christ’s covenant promises.

In our study of Joseph we have seen him go from being the favorite son to the favorite slave and finally to the favorite inmate. As Joseph plunged further and further it would have been harder and harder to see anything that could come out of his increasingly desperate situation. But nothing could be further from the truth. In this message, Rick shows us that God’s amazing work is generally hidden...

If we are to glorify God in all we do. If we are to see evil for what it is. If we are to overcome temptation. If we are to keep from falling into self-pity. If we are to be so bold as to lay down our lives rather than displease God then one thing the believer must know is the Lord is with him. In this message, Rick develops the power of this theme out of the way the Lord worked in Joseph’s enslav...

When was the last time you heard a message on Genesis 38? Have you ever heard a message from Genesis 38? Genesis 38 contains material in which viewer discretion is advised! This chapter takes us down and into the gutter. But it also points us to the only way out of the gutter. Sin leaves us feeling dirty, filthy, unclean, and disgraceful. This is why so many do not go to church. In this message, R...

In Genesis chapter 37, years of family dysfunction culminate to form the perfect storm. Favoritism, envy, jealousy, deceit, selfish ambition all coalesce into a murder plot that ends in human trafficking--Joseph is sold off to Egypt. In this message, after developing the narrative, Rick brings us to two painful realities: 1) Our sins can often return to us through our children. 2) Very often our v...

Appearances are everything to worldly eyes. But not everything is as it appears to be. In this message Rick shows us how Esau’s genealogy warns us of the foolishness and danger of falling to the lure of this world.

What do you do when you find yourself in a dark season? When your idols have a particularly strong grip on your heart and God feels so far away? In this message Rick speaks to this issue answering these questions from Genesis 35.

If you have ever read Genesis 34 you may have said to yourself “What do I do with this!” But if you do the hard work of prayerfully studying the passage you will discover there is a wealth of parenting lessons. It is true that the lessons are all in the negative--that is in the form of what not to do--they are nevertheless very instructive in raising children. In this message, Rick draws some of t...

After Jacob wrestles with God he is a changed man--a man who illustrates for us what a sinner looks like in the hands of a gracious God. After developing the text, Rick points us to several characteristics which mark a person, a sinner, who has been transformed by the hands of our gracious God!

In this text we discover that you can obey God’s commands, embrace His promises, call on Him for deliverance, embrace your unworthiness, receive His many blessings, and even give up all or a good portion of your stuff and yet still be found missing one crucial thing. Listen in to this message as Rick takes us to this crucial component.

In this message, after taking us through this passage explaining it verse by verse and stopping to make a number of applications, Rick shows the overarching message of Genesis 31 to be Jacob’s exodus out of Laban’s dominion. Rick explains Jacob’s exodus to be a preamble of Israel’s exodus which in turn is illustrative of our exodus from the dominion of the evil one, sin, and darkness. But it doesn...

Psalm 127:1 says: “Unless the Lord builds the house those who build it labor in vain.” In this message, Rick shows us how the Lord builds His house even in the midst of sin and chaos thus showing Himself to be a great Father who straightens bent sinners like ourselves for His glory.

In Genesis 29, Jacob the cheater gets cheated. Where is God in this? What about Jacob’s vision of the ladder where God has promised to be with Jacob always? Listen in as Pastor Rick Anderson explains.

In this message we explore God’s amazing and intruding grace. The Lord intrudes upon Jacob in the midst of his cheating and deception only to give him a vision of a ladder which reaches from earth to heaven. When the clear teaching of Jesus is shone upon this vision we discover that Jesus is this ladder or stairway--the only way to heaven is through Him!

One authenticating trait of Scripture is its realism. It does not paint a false rosy picture of life in this fallen world. In Genesis 27 we get a view of family dysfunction--favoritism, rivalry, rebellion, deceit, false repentance, and more. At the start we see some of our own family dysfunction but as we continue to study we begin to see ourselves! The message of hope in this chapter is that even...

It is possible to be devoted and even love Jesus while being in great error about who He is, why He came, and what He accomplished. It is only as Christ reveals Himself to our hearts that these errors begin to diminish and the joy of salvation take root. In this message, Rick leads us as we follow the women to the tomb and encounter the risen Lord.

In this message, Rick shows us that it is possible and even common to come to Jesus with the wrong idea of who He is. Our hearts are more than ready to invent a “custom Jesus.” And if we come to Jesus with the wrong idea of who He is or why He has come we are in great danger of falling away when we realize He is not who we thought. This is how the crowds could go from worshiping Jesus on Palm Sund...

Psalm 23 is one of the most familiar and beloved portions of scripture. Listen as Donald Bean explains why this text provides hope for believers throughout the ages.

When you are scared, lonely, tired, lacking in wisdom, do not know which way to go, where to turn it is comforting to have someone with you. In this message, I labor to show that if you are in Christ, the Lord is with you in a way that even surpasses the way in which He was with Isaac. With this comforting truth we can face any and all things that come our way!

In Genesis 25:19-34 we are met with the two important doctrines: God’s sovereign choice in election and our responsibility to embrace God’s promises. In this message I labor to show from the text that God alone builds His church through His electing grace. But that having been said, we are responsible to embrace these promises--promises that are readily available to each of us. Dismissal and indif...

Genesis 24 reveals to us nothing other than Almighty God advancing His kingdom. In the midst of this heart warming narrative we see the Lord working providentially, opening hearts, and giving the gift of faith. Through this story we see not only how the Lord has worked in our own lives but also how we can hope for Him to work in the lives of our loved ones and neighbors as well.

Living a life devoted to following the Lord in this life is not easy. Many of the things the believer in Christ goes through are perplexing--even shocking. In the course of our study we have walked with Abraham as he as made his way through his earthly pilgrimage with the Lord. We have seen him through the ups and downs. But never does he face a test like that of Genesis 22. In this message we fol...

Genesis 21 is a chapter which demonstrates the great faithfulness of the Lord in keeping His promises. After 25 years Abraham and Sarah have a son--Isaac--the child of the promise! And Isaac’s miraculous birth points us to both the miraculous birth of the Ultimate Child of Promise--Jesus the Messiah--as well as the new birth that each believer experiences in Christ. The burden of this message is t...

Often times when we have blown it, even if we know it to be untrue, we envision God as shying away from us possibly embarrassed of us. And it is up to us to make it right with Him so He will come back. Looking at the serious mess Abraham makes of things, Rick explains this important chapter to show that the Lord does not shy away from us when we have blown it nor is He embarrassed to call us His o...