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.

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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.

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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.

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With every step toward Jerusalem, hopes were rising.... The crowd was expecting something. The Twelve were preoccupied with the pecking-order in the new, messianic kingdom that was just about to be established - as they thought. Jesus knew that that would be in the far future. He told a parable about a master who was going away. The Parable of the Minas (MIH-nuhz) - and if you say "MY-nuhz," that's OK, too - reminds us of the Parable of the Talents, but it has a much sharper edge. Pastor Jim will take us to Luke 19:11, after he opens this new message with prayer.

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We are too often childish, and too seldom childlike! Lord, you have to do something about this other guy. He's getting a better deal than I'm getting! Or, as Peter put it, "Lord, what about this man?" We're all prone to envy, rather than gratitude. Well, Jesus told a story to shame some of this infantile selfishness out of us. And He told it while was on His way to perform the ultimate selfless act. We'll look at the parable of the Landowner and the Workers in Matthew 20, but first, Pastor Jim will give us some background.

This message can be purchased, unsegmented for broadcasting and in its entirety, for just $7 on a single CD by calling +1 (800) 984-2313, and of course you can always listen online or download the message for free.