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This is the audio from the October 12, 2025 sermon, “Knowing the Submission: Learning To SERVE!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.
Text: Hebrews 5:7-10, John 13:1-17
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”
Hebrews 5:7 (NIV)
Today we continued a sermon series about Knowing the BASICS! This will be a six-part series looking at the basics of what we believe as the Deer Run Church of Christ, which corresponds with what I believe as a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus. Foundational to our beliefs about God is a belief that the Bible is the true and accurate Word of God filled with the content He desires for us to know and follow. Because the Bible is God’s Word, we believe and know God to be the authority over all things. With God as the authority, we find through Jesus the example of knowing the submission we ought to live with. It is in our submissiveness to God that we learn to . . .
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Submit: John 13:1-5, Ephesians 5:21
- Submitting and serving are really two practices which cannot be separated from one another and remain effective. We must submit in order to serve effectively and we will serve when we choose to submit. As Jesus gathered with His disciples for a Passover meal, which would be His final one during His time on earth, He was able to serve them by submitting both to His Father and to their needs. We live with a submissive spirit which serves others when we learn to submit to their needs being more important than our own.
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Encourage: John 13:6-10, 1 Thessalonians 5:11
- The very nature of Jesus serving His disciples during this Last Supper gathering was to encourage them for what He knew was coming. Whether in the conversation with Peter about just needing to wash his feet because he was already clean, or the conversation with Philip in chapter 14 which I inadvertently used during the sermon instead of chapter 13, Jesus sought to encourage the disciples by assuring them they knew more than they gave themselves credit for. We live with a submissive spirit which serves others when we find ways to encourage.
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Restore: John 13:11-14, Galatians 6:1
- Because Jesus knew who He was and where He was going, He gathered with His disciples to prepare them to be restored after they would abandon Jesus out of fear. It is important to always remember that the teaching and practice of Jesus wasn’t only for the benefit of those who were physically present. We ought to find comfort and encouragement in knowing that we too can be restored when we wander from the truth and deny Jesus with our words and/or our actions. We live with a submissive spirit which serves others when we choose to be involved in restoring those who fall.
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Value: John 13:15-16, Philippians 2:3
- After washing the feet of the disciples, including Judas, Jesus teaches the important lesson of giving value to others. While Peter appears to be somewhat embarrassed that Jesus would be washing his feet, the very act of doing so communicates to all of the disciples that they were greatly valued by the One who was in fact their Lord and Teacher. We live with a submissive spirit which serves others when we give value to people simply because they are created in the image of God.
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Enlist: John 13:17, Acts 16:9
- As Jesus submitted to the needs of His disciples and served them according to their need, He made it clear that this wasn’t just a story about His own goodness but rather it was an example they were to follow. He was not simply serving their need, He was enlisting them into a lifetime of serving others. We live with a submissive spirit which serves others when we learn to enlist others to both help us when we can’t serve alone and to serve others at every opportunity they have.
Today, how will a commitment to godly submission help you learn to SERVE?
Tom's Treasure 