"You have heard...but I say...!" Jesus declared that He had not come to repeal the Law of God - He said so right in the Sermon on the Mount, which we've been studying. But He quickly followed that with new explanations of some well-known commands and principles. God hadn't gotten them wrong; it's just that they're much deeper and broader than we had understood. These words are bedrock - we can safely build our lives on them. And if we don't, Jesus ends His sermon with a dire warning. Here's Jim in Matthew 7; we'll pick up the message at verse 26.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

On a certain hill on a particular day, Jesus planted the flag of the Kingdom, and the name of that banner was Righteousness. Today Jim will talk about that time the Creator sat down with us and explained things. We call it the Sermon on the Mount. It has influenced human society for 2,000 years, yet many misunderstand it, and many read into it what they like. In the next few episodes Jim will take us through Matthew, chapters 5 through 7, and he'll make the case that the central theme is righteousness.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Love is not a checklist. The Pharisees were obsessed with externals. If they could just do the Do's and quit the Don'ts - including some they made up, just to be sure - then God would be pleased. But Jesus taught that true rightness is deeper, and more powerful, and much better than that. Jim's in Matthew 5.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

What does it mean to be a Christian? There might be several good ways to answer that question. To be a Christian means to believe in Jesus, and to follow Him. To be a Christian means to live in harmony with the other members of His body, the church. Today Jim will look at the transformative process going on inside believers, and he'll say that to be a Christian is to have God residing in us, doing extensive renovations. The seed of this concept comes from the words of Jesus. We'll spend most of our time today in the Sermon on the Mount, starting in Matthew 5. Here's part 1 of the sermon, Jesus Explains Righteousness.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

The one "fruit of the Spirit" has 9 seeds. There are nine aspects of the divine character that God wants to grow in us. We cannot produce these traits on our own, and we can't select only certain ones; they're all different expressions of the nature of Jesus. Jim has taken us to Galatians 5 for the list, and yesterday we talked about Love, Joy, and Peace... then he said that the next three seeds have to do with relationships, and we discussed Patience. We'll pick up the message there.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

We know that, as Christians, we're supposed to produce "fruit," but what does that fruit taste like? I hope you were with us on Friday, because Jim dealt with one of the most significant issues to every Christian: how to live in the Spirit, not in the flesh. Today he'll continue in Galatians, chapter 5, and we'll see what that spirit-life should look like in us. How does it manifest itself? What is the "fruit of the Spirit?" Let's rewind a bit, to where Jim was talking about the directive to "serve one another in love."

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Can we end the endless war between flesh and spirit? This is an important episode for Christians who struggle with sin. "Besetting sin," we call it. We know we're meant to have victory, but often we don't know how. Here's how. Jim's new sermon is called Being Transformed to be Like Jesus, and he'll open with prayer.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

We don't like to think of ourselves as conformists. And we're pretty uniform in that opinion. Our study of The Righteousness of Jesus Christ is ultimately about our destiny to be conformed to the image of God's Son. But the idea of conformity makes us squirm a little bit. "We're individuals, not robots!" Well, good news: Our transformation into replicas of Christ won't erase our personal distinctions; it will connect us to a shared life - the life of God. Here's Part 3 of the sermon, If the Holy Spirit Lives in You..., and Jim is reading from John, chapter 15.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Did you ever make a grape? No, me neither. I've eaten a grape, peeled a grape... maybe you've painted a grape. Or even tended the actual plants and cultivated their fruit. But you and I will never make a grape, no matter how hard we try. Only a living branch, connected to the vine, can do that. That's an illustration Jesus gave, to explain how the fruit of righteousness is produced in us. Here's Jim with Part 2 of the sermon, If the Holy Spirit Lives in You....

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

The gospel is not, "Be good;" but "Be-lieve," and "Be transformed." Jesus has many admirers, even today. Millions want to imitate His example. "What would Jesus do?" they ask. But Christianity isn't emulation - it's replication. If we think of righteousness as something we can work up, we're in trouble. Jim will help us get back on track as he opens this sermon with prayer.

Listen to Right Start Radio every Monday through Friday on WCVX 1160AM (Cincinnati, OH) at 9:30am, WHKC 91.5FM (Columbus, OH) at 5:00pm, WRFD 880AM (Columbus, OH) at 9:00am. Right Start can also be heard on One Christian Radio 107.7FM & 87.6FM in New Plymouth, New Zealand.