Tri-State Community Church - Sermons

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...

In our passage John mentions an old commandment and a new commandment. Something has happened. Something that has powerfully transformed the old into the new. In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson explains John's meaning and its implications, namely, that the true church is to be wonderfully loving because it has been transformed by and reflects the very love of Christ.

When we think of the phrase "the love of God perfected" we may be inclined to think of mountaintop experiences, warm fuzzy feelings or even ecstatic emotions. In this message Pastor Rick Anderson takes us through John's words in order to discover what this great truth describes and how it wonderfully applies to all the faithful followers of Christ.

In 1 John 2:1-2, John introduces the word "advocate." In this message, Pastor Rick Anderson takes us through several questions: 1) what is an advocate 2) who is our advocate 3) what is the scope of His Advocacy 4) why does it matter?

The Real Deal // 1 John 2:1a by Tri-State Community Church

This message begins with three "flyovers" which set us up to understand the Psalm from our side of the resurrection of Jesus. From there we look at each verse in order to gain a working understanding of the message of Psalm 2. The fruit of this understanding is the wonderful news that our Psalm 1 Messiah is our Psalm 2 King!

The aim of this message is: 1) to explain the many metaphors and terms in the psalm 2) answer the question, "Who is the man in which Psalm 1 is referencing 3) show how Psalm 1 proclaims the gospel and empowers us to become Psalm 1 men and women.

The Son who is promised in this great verse is a human born just like any other human. But our text also informs us He is to be called Mighty God. Herein is the great gospel truth that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. In this message we gaze at what the bible says about Christ as Mighty God: He is Mighty to create, Mighty to Re-create, Mighty to Save, and Mighty to Keep.

In this message we continue our study of this great passage. After a period of deep darkness, Isaiah speaks of a coming light--a Great Light. This Great Light will dispel the tyranny and oppression of this world and the spiritual forces of darkness imprisoning it. This joy and deliverance comes because "to us a child is born, to us a Son is given. This Son is the light of the world who will dispel...

At the start this message may sound like a history lesson but what we have is a great anecdote to the increasing fear and anxiety which abounds today. As we look at the ancient history we see many parallels to our own time and more importantly, we see God's very own cure for this age old problem.

This message continues where last week's left off, namely, in verse 6 where we saw that walking in darkness is walking in the realm or kingdom of darkness. From this kingdom there can be no holistic fellowship with God. In this message we consider John's contrast, namely, walking in the light. Walking in the light is walking in the realm or kingdom of light. This contrast has led some to conclude...

When John says, "if we say we have fellowship with God but walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth," who is he referring to? The false teachers? Antinomians? Nominal Christians? True believers who have sinned? True believers with besetting sins? True believers who have fallen into a pattern of sin? All the above? If yes to all the above, can the true believer lose fellowship with God...

In 1 John 1:5, John begins to share the message he had heard and proclaimed. As others have pointed out, one of the great lessons of verse 5 is found in John's starting point. We may have expected John to begin with the love of God. But instead, John begins with the character of God. In this message, Rick Anderson develops John's starting point, shows the implications of it for evangelism, shows h...

Last time we began to look at the amazing subject of fellowship with God, and we began by looking at this fellowship from God's side of the relationship. In this message, Paster Rick Anderson continues the discussion on fellowship with God, this time looking at this fellowship from our side of the relationship.