Are the signs that Jesus gave for His return vague, or precise? The events marking the second coming of Christ are clear - to those who know and believe the Scriptures. Today we're winding up our series on the Stories and Parables Jesus Told with a look at what Jim calls the "most important topic now," the Signs of the End of the Age. We need to stay alert - it may be later than we think! Let's resume our discussion of the analogy of the "days of Noah." Pastor Jim is in Matthew 24, verse 37.

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.

Let's destroy some misconceptions about end-time prophecy. Didn't the Apostles believe that Jesus would come back before they died? If we can't know "the day or the hour" of the Lord's return, why study eschatology? There are a lot of sloppy fallacies floating around out there. Let's blast a couple of them as we continue to look at what Jesus said about the Fig Tree, then about the days of Noah. We're in Matthew 24, picking up where we left off yesterday in the message, Signs of the End of the Age. Here's Pastor Jim.

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.

Our study of Jesus' use of parables and figurative language wouldn't be complete without a look at what He said about "the end." The final sermon in our series on Stories and Parables Jesus Told is called, Signs of the End of the Age. And if we're studying "last things" in the Bible, it's easy to get boggled by all the symbols. But if we read carefully, and don't take any sign out of context, things may get a lot clearer. And of course it helps to have someone Jim guiding us through! We'll look at the parable of the Fig Tree and more, on today's Right Start.

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.

Coming to Jesus isn't like "friending" Him on Facebook. Friday in Jim's sermon The Shepherd we saw Jesus absolutely throw down the gauntlet to the Pharisees. Today in the conclusion of that message we'll see Christ put the challenge to us. Following Him will mean confessing the darkness within us, leaving our will behind, and above all - abandoning our religious games. He demands a lot, but He offers everything.

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.

One thing you have to love about Jesus: He is not a schmoozer. The Lord didn't seem to be interested in "networking" His way to the top. He came on the scene speaking truth to power, the religious authorities in Israel, and He just never let up. When He said, "I am the Good Shepherd," he went on to expose the bad shepherds like the Pharisees, and to shatter their reputations as righteous, respectable leaders. We're closing the week with the 2nd of 3 parts of Jim's message, The Shepherd. And we're in John 10.

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When Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd," did His Jewish audience think, "Where have I heard that before?" It's a beautiful picture, the Shepherd and His sheep. But after a lifetime of singing, "The LORD - Yahweh - is my shepherd, I shall not want," did it strike a note of discord to hear this man from Nazareth say, "I am the Shepherd?" We'll learn more about this agrarian analogy, and how Jesus' listeners might have understood it, as we open a message called, The Shepherd.

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.

Who am I morally obligated to help? That's how we should hear the question, "Who is my neighbor?" Who am I required to love as I love myself? Our culture blurs the distinctions between a neighbor, a brother, and the other 7 billion people on earth. The legal eagle who questioned Jesus made the reverse mistake: he wanted to know exactly where those compartments are divided. The Lord answered the question with a question, but first He told one of the most famous stories ever uttered. Here's Jim.

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.

When is a believer not a believer? In our study of Jesus' First Parables, yesterday we started to look at the analogy of the Lord's body and the Temple. "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up," He said. As we finish with that metaphor today, we'll notice that some in the crowd believed in Christ because of the miracles they were seeing - or did they really, fully believe? Then Jim will open the parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders in Matthew 7.

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 was Jesus' first parable? We know from John what the Lord's first miracle was: the water to wine at the wedding in Cana. John also seems to indicate the first parable, or at least the first time Jesus used metaphor as a teaching tool in His public ministry. And it's a doozy. Typical of the parables that would follow, it was completely obscure to His adversaries. It was, as Pastor Jim will show, a claim to deity. We'll be in John's Gospel, chapter 2, to begin a message called, Jesus' First Parables.

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.

Would you turn down a banquet invitation from the President? President, King, Prime Minister - if you send your "regrets" to the ruler's invitation, it's not because you had something more important to do that day. It's because you don't like the ruler. In the parable of the Wedding Feast, Jesus accused Israel of spurning God's invitation. And He let them know that the King of Heaven and Earth wouldn't take this snub lightly. Yesterday we left off with Jesus applying the "rejected cornerstone" prophecy to Himself. Let's join Jim in Matthew 21:42.

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.