~

This is the audio from the July 19, 2026 sermon, “Summer With the Son: Being Peaceful!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Matthew 5:38-42, Romans 12:17-21

• Possible:  Matthew 5:38, Romans 12:18

  • Being peaceful begins when we know what is possible beyond our human efforts.  When we do all that is possible in our ability to be at peace with everyone, we begin to understand  all that God has done to bring us to peace with Him.  It is possible for us to have peace with God, not because we are so good, but because God is so good.  That is the possibility God wants us to consider in the way that we are peaceful with others.

• Evil:  Matthew 5:39, Romans 12:17,21

  • Being peaceful will require us to know the truth about evil.  The very nature of evil longs for revenge rather than peace.  It is important to know evil is often the driving force behind conflict so that we are kept from peace.  Knowing evil should always lead us to identifying it in our own life so that we can find God’s help in removing it in order to be at peace with Him and with our self.

• Acceptable:  Matthew 5:40, Romans 12:19

  • Being peaceful will grow in our life as we learn to know what is acceptable to God.  Turning the other cheek is not a declaration by God that it is okay to mistreat anyone, rather it is instruction regarding our response to mistreatment.  What is acceptable to God is a heart of purity which in humility considers the needs of others to be more important than our own.

• Compassionate:  Matthew 5:41, Romans 12:20

  • Being peaceful will flow from knowing, and practicing, a compassionate life.  We choose to do what is good and right in all circumstances so that others would see the goodness of God in us.  In our godly response to the mistreatment by others, we heap burning coals on their head not to destroy them, but to help them find purification from God.  While we reject the evil actions of other, and of our self, we have compassion that exemplifies God’s compassion toward us.

• Enough:  Matthew 5:42, Romans 12:21

  • Being peaceful will lead us to know what is enough.  Doing all that is possible by us to be at peace with everyone is a very difficult task and doesn’t always bring about the peace we desire.  The good news is that God doesn’t measure the results of what others choose to do, but rather considers our faithfulness to His instructions to be enough.  We will fail.  Our efforts will fall short at times.  The great news in being peaceful and in knowing peace is knowing that God is always enough.

Today, how will you live with a knowledge of what is PEACE?

~

This is the audio from the July 12, 2026 sermon, “Summer With the Son: Being Honest!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Matthew 5:33-37

• Glory:  Matthew 5:33-35

  • Being honest with God will be visible when we choose to be honest with the glory we give Him.  Invoking God’s name in an attempt to give importance to our own desires and plans will lead us away from the honesty God desires from us.  Whatever good that is seen in us, heard from us, and/or practiced by us are things which flow from God and He is the One who deserves the glory for them.

• Our Self:  Matthew 5:36

  • Being honest with God will not happen until we learn to be honest with our self.  Yes, we have ways to temporarily change the color of our hair, and many other things about our self, but God expects an honesty from us about our true inability to change how He created us.  It is in this honest with our self that we understand the need to rely fully on God as the source of all truth.

• Decisions:  Matthew 5:37

  • Being honest with God will lead us to greater honesty with our decisions.  Giving answers that we think people, or even God, want to hear can be filled with fraud if we’re not honest in keeping to those decisions with the best of our ability.  Perhaps one of the difficulties in being honest with our decisions is that we give answers that we’ve not really prayed about or considered fully.  Our yes can be yes and our no can be no, only when we are honest about why we give the answer that we do.

Today, how will you be honest with GOD?

Here’s the text of the poem I shared to introduce this sermon:

Honest To God!

There’s something I’ve noticed
     that really seems strange.
When it comes to truth,
     we think there’s a range.
There are bold lies and white lies,
     and “honest to God”.
And all kinds of gray space
     that really seems odd.
Whatever happened
     to yes and to no?
And keeping our word
     wherever we go?

To keep to my word,
     and make sure it’s true.
Should be how I live,
     when I talk with you.
I must be careful
     to weigh every word.
So only the truth,
     is that which is heard.
To make up a story,
     so I don’t look bad.
Will only bring problems,
     the worst that I’ve had.

Image is everything,
     at least we’ve been told.
So we make up a story
     and hope that it’s sold.
Our yes isn’t yes,
     and our no isn’t no.
We consider our image
     and we answer so-so.
We hide the true facts,
     that we don’t want seen.
And tell a new version,
     where the truth is quite lean.

This doesn’t mean
     you should tell all you know.
Some things are private,
     from your mouth should not go.
But that is a story
     for another day.
About speaking the truth,
     this poem will stay.
When we cover up
     the truth with a lie.
Our reputation
     has begun to die.

We must be careful
     that we don’t deceive.
By the impression
     that we try to leave.
We should not have to
     swear this is true.
Our word should be good
     when given to you.
The things that we value
     will carry more weight.
When we are honest
     in all that we state.

So when you are thinking
    that truth can’t be found.
Open the Bible,
     take a good look around.
The truth that is Jesus,
     does show us the way.
And calls us to choose;
     in our speech, there’s no gray.
To be fully honest,
     in word and in deed.
Is a teaching of Jesus
     that we ought to heed.

© 2015  by Tom Lemler

~

This is the audio from the July 5, 2026 sermon, “Summer With the Son: Being Pure!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Matthew 5:27-32

• Prepared:  Matthew 5:27-28

  • Being pure involves being prepared to avoid and overcome temptation.  When we recognize sin begins long before the actual action of sin, we can be prepared by learning to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.

• Urgent:  Matthew 5:29a, 30a

  • Being pure involves being urgent in our response to the sin which so easily entangles us.  We must choose to take temptation seriously as we understand the urgency to remove the things in our life which would lead us to condemnation.

• Real:  Matthew 5:29b, 30b

  • Being pure involves being real as we move beyond the theoretical discussion of sin in general to the real sin that exists in our mind and in our life.  We must understand the source of sin comes from within and is fanned by the deception and accusation of the enemy, regardless of how good we may think we are.

• Exclusive:  Matthew 5:31-32

  • Being pure involves being exclusive in our relationship with God.  The covenant of marriage is used by God as an illustration of the relationship He desires between Jesus and us as His bride.  Marriages end for a lot of reasons, and in the process what should have been an exclusive relationship between individuals is lost . . . sometimes the loss of exclusivity is the reason for the ending.  The good news for all of us is that regardless of how well, or how poorly, we do at marriage in this world, God daily calls us to a fresh opportunity to be pure as we choose to exclusively His.

Today, how will you be PURE?

~

This is the audio from the June 28, 2026 sermon, “Summer With the Son: Being Reconciled!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Matthew 5:21-26

• Motives:  Matthew 5:21-22

  • Being reconciled with God and with one another requires us to understand our motives are as important as our actions.  God examines the heart and we must carefully examine our own heart as we really don’t have the capacity to accurately examine the heart of anyone else.  When we agree with God about the sin inside of us, we are prepared to agree with God about our need for reconciliation.

• Offerings:  Matthew 5:23-24

  • Being reconciled with God and with one another requires us to understand our offerings are not an act detached from who we are, but rather are an act of worship which requires a heart purified from the hatred and division of this world.  While we can’t always make everything right, God says that as far as it depends upon us we should be at peace with everyone.  God has set the example by sending Jesus to make things right when the division between Him and us was caused by us.  We follow that example of reconciliation when we initiate making things right with those who may have wronged us.

• Responsibility:  Matthew 5:25

  • Being reconciled with God and with one another requires us to understand our responsibility in seeking peace and reaching godly terms of agreement.  This is not a call to engage in the sinful behavior of the world in order to fit in, but rather a responsibility to “love mercy, act justly, and walk humbly with our God”.  When it comes to God holding the say on the day of judgment, it is our responsibility to accept His terms so that we are reconciled to Him and not cast into “prison” to fully pay our debt.

• Eternity:  Matthew 5:26

  • Being reconciled with God and with one another requires us to understand how our eternity is determined by our choices.  Paying our way out of prison simply doesn’t work and I believe that is what Jesus was getting at here in verse 26.  We must be reconciled so that our eternal destination is one of joy and not of torment.

How will you understand MORE today as you are being reconciled?

~

This is the audio from the June 21, 2026 sermon, “Summer With the Son: Being Righteous!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Matthew 5:17-20

• Reminded:  Matthew 5:17

  • Having a righteousness in Christ involves being reminded of the inability of the law to save us and thus our need for a Savior.

• Intentional:  Matthew 5:18

  • Having a righteousness in Christ is possible when we are intentional about pursing a relationship with Him through faith.

• Good:  Matthew 5:19

  • Having a righteousness in Christ changes our view of good from being based on what we do to being a product of whose we are.

• Honest:  Matthew 5:19

  • Having a righteousness in Christ will cause us to be honest with God, with our self, and with others about the nature of our relationship and obedience to Christ.

• Transformed:  Matthew 5:20

  • Having a righteousness in Christ comes as we are transformed in our way of thinking so that our righteousness indeed exceeds that of the Pharisees because it has a different source.

How will you be RIGHT today as you make the light of Jesus known?

~

This is the audio from the June 14, 2026 sermon, “Summer With the Son: Being Salt and Light!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Matthew 5:13-16

• Supplied:  Matthew 5:13

  • You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world because God is the One who supplies all that you need in order to be.

• Available:  Matthew 5:14

  • You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world when you make yourself available to God for His exclusive use in everything you do.

• Loving:  Matthew 5:15

  • You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world when you grow in loving people like Jesus loves you, and them.

• Truthful:  Matthew 5:16

  • You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world when you are truthful about God being the One who works in you and through you to accomplish His will.

How will you be SALT today as you make the light of Jesus known?

~

This is the audio from the June 7, 2026 sermon, “Summer With the Son: Being Blessed!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Matthew 5:1-12

Questions to Consider:

Are you poor in spirit?

Do you mourn?

Are you meek?

Do you hunger & thirst for righteousness?

Are you merciful?

Are you pure in heart?

Are you a peacemaker?

Are you persecuted because of righteousness?

Are you insulted?

Are you falsely accused?

No acrostic outline, or any outline for that matter, today. 🙂

Today, how will you live as one Being Blessed in order to bless others?

~

This is the audio from the May 17, 2026 sermon, “Preparing For the Son: Prepared To Be NEW!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Matthew 4:12-25

• Near  Matthew 4:12-17

  •  

• Eager:  Matthew 4:18-22

  •  

• Well:  Matthew 4:23-25

  •  

Today, how will you live as one prepared to be NEW?