Tri-State Community Church - Sermons

In our text this morning, Paul emphatically calls us to rejoice. This opens up a lot of questions. For example, can we rejoice on call like this? In other words, can we be commanded to rejoice? What if we are grieving? What if our health is failing? What if we have a loved one suffering? Can we rejoice regardless of what may be happening in our life? In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson discusses...

Our text this morning is highly practical. In it, Paul entreats two truly believing but estranged women back together and he enlists either an individual or the church at large to help in the reconciliation. What could be more practical than handling estrangement among true believers? What I want to do this morning is first go through our text and explain the verses best as I can and from there, e...

Have you ever experienced wavering in your faith and determination to follow closely after Christ? In our text Paul calls us to “stand firm in the Lord.” In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson, by way of explanation and contrast with verses 17, 18, and 19, shows us several powerful truths and promises which empower us to “stand firm in the Lord.” These truths and promises will help you stay true an...

Paul calls us to walk in imitation of him, not those who are enemies of the cross. In our text we see the importance of imitating the right example and the danger of imitating the wrong example. Horrifyingly, we may even find ourselves being the wrong example! How are we to identify the right example? How are we to avoid the wrong example? How are we to be the right example that others may be bles...

In our text this morning we get a great lesson in what our posture should be as we make our pilgrimage through this life. Paul confesses he has not reached perfection, but because Christ has made Paul His own, Paul presses on, forgetting the past and straining forward. In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson explains this glorious passage, making application of it to our daily lives.

In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson discusses a knowledge that progressively transforms us into the likeness of Christ.

In this message Pastor Rick answers three questions about church membership: 1) Is church membership biblical? 2) What is the role and responsibility of a church member? and 3) What are the blessings of being a church member?

In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson takes us through Paul’s words under these three headings: 1) Look out for false teaching 2) Put no confidence in the flesh 3) Count all things as loss for the sake of knowing Christ. This discussion is a "first coat of paint" and is meant to be an introduction toward a deeper understanding of what it means to come to Christ, grow in Him, and be glorified in Hi...

In this message Pastor Rick Anderson takes us to Paul’s description of two individuals, Timothy and Epaphroditus, in order to get a powerful illustration of what the Christian lifestyle is supposed to look like.

In this message Pastor Rick Anderson discusses the problem of complaining and arguing. In Philippians 2:14-18 we find: 1) A command to mortify complaining and arguing 2) Motivation to overcome complaining and arguing 3) Instruction in how to overcome complaining and arguing.

This morning we return to Philippians 2:12-13 where we continue in our consideration of the previously mentioned questions and concerns. In this message we pickup with question two asking, what is it to will and to work? And questions three and four: How does God work in us to will and to work? What is meant by fear and trembling.

Pastor Rick returns to Philippians 2:12-13 where he would have us to consider Four Questions: 1 What is it to work out our salvation? 2 What is it to will and to work? 3 How does God work in us to will and to work? 4 What is meant by fear and trembling?

Paul calls us to work out our salvation in fear and trembling. But what is meant by salvation? In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson takes us through ten ways the Scriptures speak about salvation. This is followed up by how salvation can be thought of in past, present, and future tense.

It may surprise some folks, especially if you are hearing this for the first time, but the sacrament of Baptism is meant to strengthen our faith. One of the reasons we often miss this is because too often we think of baptism in terms of what we have done--repented of our sins, put our faith in Jesus. In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson explains that, baptism is really chiefly and principally abo...

Having opened his letter in a spirit of great joy and thanksgiving, thanking the Philippians for their partnership with him in the gospel, Paul now turns to exhortation. In verses 27 to 30 Paul calls to Philippians to stand firm and strive side-by-side, afraid of nothing in their opponents for the gospel of Christ. In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson explains verses 27 to 30 with an aim at showi...

In our passage we get a strong word on what it is to live in Christ during this earthly pilgrimage. And we get a very strong word on what it is to die in Christ. In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson briefly delves into both of these. The aim is to explain what it is to biblically live and die in Christ and offer some guidance in getting there.

Have you ever wondered what you would do if under fierce persecution you were told to renounce Christ or die. If you have walked with Christ for any length of time this is probably a question that has come up in your heart a time or two. And it is likely a question that has caused no little anxiety and fear. In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson takes us into these waters to show us where our hope...

In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson labors to show the power of motive—“Our motives, those hidden inward reasons for doing the things we do, can either empower us or kill us.” This message begins with an explanation of the text showing the various motives found therein illustrating how Paul’s motives empowered him to endure some very foul conditions for Christ’s glory. It concludes with how to r...

In Philippians 1:12-26 we get what some have called a missionary letter. There Paul sends word to the Philippian church he is well. But Paul also imparts a powerful lesson on the strength of living faithfully in Christ in foul conditions. In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson explains Paul's lesson.

Life is full of decisions and these decisions turn into plans. As image bearers of God we were created to think, reason, and plan. And this is something we do constantly. In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson takes us through Proverbs 16:1-9 to show us the relationship between our plans and God’s sovereignty and how we should approach our thinking, reasoning, and planning before our sovereign God.

Sociologists are telling us that Americans are afraid of more things and they are more afraid of those things than they have been in the past. And this resonates with what we see in our culture so we are not surprised by these findings. In this message, taking a large leaf out of John Flavel’s work on fear, we begin to explore how we are to navigate through our fear.

The German Reformer, Martin Luther wrote these words concerning Psalm 118: “This is my own beloved psalm. Although the entire Psalter and all of Holy Scripture are dear to me as my only comfort and source of life, I fell in love with this psalm especially. Therefore I call it my own. When emperors and kings, the wise and the learned, and even saints, could not aid me, this psalm proved a friend an...

This morning we come to Luke 19:28-48 in order to consider what the church has historically called Palm Sunday. This event is of great significance for in it, Jesus, conscientiously and deliberately fulfills the then 500 year old prophecy spoken by Zechariah. In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson takes us through both the broader context of Luke as well as the context of the Old Testament in order...

In 1 John 2:15-17 John gives us this imperative: “Do not love the world or the things in the world.” This passage has been often misinterpreted and misapplied to great harm. In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson first shows John’s method in bringing us to this imperative and then shows some misinterpretations and misapplications of it. From there we look at the verse more closely defining what Joh...

If you have read John's first letter then you have probably been puzzled by his use of “children, fathers, and young men” in chapter two, verses twelve through fourteen. Who is John speaking to? Who are the children, fathers, and young men? And why is John repeating himself? In this message, pastor Rick Anderson takes up these questions to show that something very powerful and pastoral is going on...