Fresh Manna 2021

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Strong Tower Radio

Fresh Manna By Darryl Bently

Darryl Bentley

The New Normal

Fresh manna fell to the ground as a gift from God while the Israelites were in the wilderness.

It was fresh from the ovens of heaven, Baked by the master baker himself.

How the Israelites must have anticipated the taste and the smell of each morning's delivery.

Just like the Israelites, you too can now experience the taste and smell of fresh manna.

Today you will be listening to Darrell Bentley, pastor of the Metropolitan Seventh-day Adventist Church.

I never want to open God's Word or attempt to share for Him unless I have spoken and asked Him to speak through me.

Dear Father God, I thank you that you are in the business of using humanity to bless humanity.

Lord, we've just experienced that through Caroline's playing, the music that flowed out of her, was able to fill this space to bless our hearts.

And now Father, we want to open our hearts and receive your Word.

We want to receive the teaching that you have in store for us.

And Lord, I can't do that without your help.

I need You to cleanse me with the blood of Christ.

Please, Father, in this moment, fill me as only You can do.

Lord, I ask that You would be with my brothers and sisters, that You would speak to them today.

Lord, You know the message that each 1 needs to hear.

Those that are here, those that may be watching online.

Father, please speak to them as only you can do.

So Father, please let your words be heard.

I wanna talk to you about change, but not in the typical sense of addressing change, right?

I mean, it's 1 of those cliche type things, right?

Just like 2020, what was the temptation, right?

Everything has to be cast in terms of optics, right?

All right, it turned out pretty trashy, right, for a lot of us.

So I tend to stay away from those very cliched things.

Even the sermon that the Lord put upon my heart just before Christmas, I had someone text me after the message and say, Pastor, that was a very atypical sermon for Christmas, but I was blessed.

I don't like to just succumb and buy into cliches and do that which is trite and expected.

I wanna see what does the Lord have to say in this moment and talk to you about change, but not in the sense of, are you gonna make some resolutions?

I mean, the statistics are not flattering at all for people who determine to make a resolution and then they don't stick with it.

Last Sabbath we were in Hickory, North Carolina and 1 of the elders, the first elder there at the Hickory Church, actually shared And he said something that I thought was a little funny, actually.

He said, I always break my resolutions, but I feel like I need to make 1 anyway.

And I didn't get to ask him afterwards, I actually know him fairly well.

I wanted to ask him, Steve, go through an exercise that you know is pointless.

But I didn't try to beat him up after his message.

But as it relates to change, I want to take you to the words of a Greek philosopher.

No, not that I'm trying to take you to the cisterns of Babylon to drink, but this is something that I think many of us may have heard before.

It comes from a Greek philosopher by the name of Heraclitus.

And he is quoted as having said, change is the only constant in life.

Alright, and it's been readapted, it's been reworded several different ways, but change is the only constant in life, and his statement, in some ways, seems to stand in contradiction to a biblical quote.

This is yes in some cultures, work with a brother.

If not, I wonder how we would reacquaint ourselves.

There's a simple solution to that 1, isn't there?

So let's go ahead and just get those fingers working or fingers scrolling, whichever you choose to do.

You guys know that I like my iPad because I can carry all my translations with me.

But Ecclesiastes 1.9 from the New King James reads thusly, that which has been is what will be.

How much change does it sound like Solomon is promoting?

This is the part that most of us know from this verse.

It says, and there is how much that's new under the sun?

So I wonder, is it actually possible to harmonize the 2 thoughts?

We've got Heraclitus, who says change is the only constant.

Then on the other side, the biblical part of the equation, we're told that there's nothing new under the sun.

You think just because you're the 1 going through it that you're the only 1 who have ever gone through it.

When your kids are going through something and you try to tell them, Well, listen, everybody goes through this.

Right, well, listen, you'll work your way through this.

It comes down to a matter of experience and perspective.

And sometimes we get a little bit more experience than we bargain for, right?

I love going into Jimmy John's for 2 reasons.

The first of which is the signs on the walls.

A Father’s Love

It was fresh from the ovens of heaven, baked by the master baker himself.

Today I Today, you will be listening to Darrell Bentley, pastor of the Detroit Metropolitan and Farmington Seventh-day Adventist churches.

Today, I am very excited that we do have a new sermon series that we get to spend some time going through together.

And so we're going to be talking about primitive godliness.

I'm going to explain a little bit more about what that is as we get further into the sermon, but I'm excited about how God is leading.

He always has just this amazing way that he just blesses me.

Because there's times I'll come to the end of a sermon series and I'm thinking, well what am I going to do next?

And it creates not just a little bit of anxiety, right?

Because you don't want to have sermons that are just disconnected, have no continuity of thought.

And so I love to preach in a series because it gives us that track that we can follow as the Lord leads us through his word.

So today we are going to be starting sermon number 1, primitive godliness, a father's love.

But before we dive in, I need to pause, I need to ask the Lord to put his special blessing upon what we would do just now as we open his word.

Thank you for being the God who created us and sustains us.

Thank you, Father, for the gift of life, for the beautiful gift of the Sabbath.

And Lord, as we have mentioned, we thank you for this technology whereby we can communicate, we can share your word, we can still proclaim the truths from your word, we can have that connection together.

I always need your help and I especially feel the need for your help today.

That you would send your Holy Spirit please to guide my words.

That you would help me to know what to say and when to be silent.

Father, I desire that you would be lifted up and that your people would be challenged in their faith walk with you, that they would be better ingrained in your word, and that we would know how to march forward in faith in these troubling times.

So Lord, please speak to my brothers and sisters, wherever they may be found today.

And Lord, may you be glorified as we spend this time in your word, for I ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

I wanna take you back to a spring afternoon, sunny, warm, gorgeous spring afternoon in North Carolina.

We were living there, 2006, and we had moved back from Southern Adventist University because I had gotten orders to be deployed with the army and so Ginger said you have to move me back home I'm not interested in being stuck in Collegedale while you're going to Iraq.

So moved the family back home, we found a nice little place there, not too far from the Hickory Church.

And we'd been doing some yard work, just cleaning up around.

Ginger had been doing some things in the house and it was getting later into the evening, it was time to start putting things away, start thinking about supper, start thinking about getting the children ready for their evening routine, you know, bath, bed, all that sort of stuff.

And as Ginger and I were winding these things down we began to gather the kids and we quickly noticed out of 3 we only had 2.

And so you know at first it's a very casual search, right?

Carson, you know, it's just a little casual call because surely he's just around the corner.

But I made my way around the corner and still no response.

I make my way around another corner of the house, outside, still no response.

Finally I've made a loop around the house and I still don't see him, so my assumption is okay, he must have gone inside with Ginger.

Well I don't know, I thought he was outside with you.

Right, and then you start moving, your mind, your body, right, your heart, starts moving in this direction where it ceases being casual to now just that slight, slight little indication of panic starts settling into your heart.

We were in a little bedroom community there of Hickory, North Carolina and it was not city-city but it had streets, right?

And there was not a super busy street that ran in front of the house, but we were, I mean, kind of right on the street.

And then of course your mind starts taking that journey that no parent ever wants to take that has somebody taken my child?" The panic began to set in a little more deeply.

I find myself making circles in the yard and checking places I've already checked.

I'm looking at the little crawlspace entrance there on the side of the house.

Ginger's inside the house, checking closets, checking bathrooms, right?

Just before we were at the very verge of calling 911, calling and making that dreaded call, someone has taken our child, our child is missing.

I felt led to just go into the bedroom 1 more time, the kids bedroom, and check 1 more time.

And as I went in there and looked, I happened to look down under the edge of the bed and who did I find lying under the edge of the bed who had heard us calling heard us calling his name over and over and over Carson Carson had not made a peep had not made a sound well needless to say he was removed from under the bed very abruptly.

And you know, you're asking, You find yourself in this moment of great frustration because you've just put my heart in a place it shouldn't have gone, and I'm calling you, why didn't you answer me?

But you're also, that's mixed with this great relief, right?

Of being able to embrace your child and to hold them in your arms, to know that no 1 has taken them, that they're right there.

And you ask, I ask, did you hear us calling?

Well, I thought we were playing hide and seek.

So what for us was very serious, to him was just a game, right?

You've got the perspective of he thought it was just a game and it was a perfect hiding spot apparently because over and over and over and over, he hears us going around the house, making these calls.

I found a perfect spot." So in his mind he has found wild success.

But we, we're aware of abduction stories.

We're aware, we're praying that our child has not fallen victim to such.

On the 1 end there was a carefree, I'm having a fun time, that mentality's at play.

On the other hand there's this love of a father, love of a mother, knew that dangers lurk in this world and were praying beyond our wildest dreams that he would just be returned.

As I think about our situation on this earth, it's sort of the same.

You and I live here on this earth and many times We are unaware of the spiritual danger that lurks near us or seeks to devour us.

In fact, the scriptures tell us that such is the case.

I want to take your mind to 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 8.

And as you find your way there, we are told, be sober, be vigilant.

Because your adversary, who does it say your adversary is?

It says that he's walking about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Fruitless Gospel

Today, you will be listening to Daryl Bentley, pastor of the Metropolitan Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Lord, you know the thoughts that you have put on my mind, on my heart.

Father, I pray that you would just empower me, that You would fill me with Your Spirit, that You would help me know what to say, when to speak, and when to be silent.

Father, as we open Your Word, I'm asking that the blood of Jesus would cover me, that You would cleanse me from all unrighteousness, that you might be able to use me today, Father, in spite of who I am.

And Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters.

We've had a little bit longer service today, and so there could be a tendency to tune out.

Father, what needs to be tuned out are our distractions.

And let us now have that vigor and endurance to spend a little time in the Word.

Teach us, Father, instruct us, challenge us, make us your children, Fit us for the kingdom, I pray in Christ's name.

Now I want you to imagine a scenario with me.

I don't care if it's soup, beans, whatever you might get out of a can.

So let's imagine I've got this nice big can of tomato soup, because that's the best.

Let's imagine though, I'm ready to make that can of tomato soup, and instead of going to the drawer and pulling out the can opener, I go out to my little toolbox in the garage and I get a flathead screwdriver and a hammer.

And I start working my way, I mean some of you are like, yeah, that's what I do all the time.

Listen, go to Walmart or somewhere, get a can opener, right?

Because why would I take a screwdriver and a hammer to open my can of soup, destroy it, make a mess, perhaps contaminate the contents, because when's the last time you sterilized your screwdriver?

But instead of using that modern convenience, instead of using that which could make my life easier, I leave it to the side.

Let's say that it's time to mow the lawn.

How many of you do it with 1 of those old 1940s, 1950s cylindrical bladed mowers that is only powered by you?

Now I've only historically seen that those exist.

But can you imagine let's say you've got a very nice riding lawnmower or even a push mower if you have a small lawn.

Imagine the newt instead of using those nice 0 turn mowers that you use, you left those on the trailer and said nope we're gonna cut every lawn with 1 of these nice cylindrical bladed mowers.

Would somebody be looking at me like, are you crazy?

And let's imagine, now it's time for you to bathe.

And instead of going in there where you have those 2 dials, right, those 2 handles, 1 has an H, 1 has a C, and I don't know about you, but I know exactly, some of you'll find this surprising, Nick won't, but I know exactly the position that H has to be in and the angle that that C has to be in to give me the perfect shower.

Anybody else have their recipe dialed in?

Now my wife, she likes water so hot that it melts your flesh.

I'm a little bit more Laodicean in my showers.

But imagine instead of participating that way to cleanse myself, no, I'm just going to go outside, I'm going to rustle up the garden hose, and I'm just going to bathe myself out.

Some of you may be wondering, is the pastor trying to inspire us to go back to pioneer days?

The point I'm trying to make is If you have all these modern conveniences, if you have these things that make your life easier, why would you not avail yourself of them?

Is anybody now inspired because of the introduction to this sermon to now go home and open your cans with a screwdriver and a hammer other than my brother over here who already does it.

If I have something that's been given to me as a convenience, definitely makes my life easier and not only easier but safer, why would I not avail myself of it?

Do you and I have the gospel at our disposal?

Do we more than any other, and I'm not talking about just Seventh-day Adventists, I'm talking about Christianity in the modern era.

Do we know more about scriptures and fulfillment of prophecy than any other group of people that have ever lived on the planet?

So there should be no problem with us finding salvation.

People should be saved by the droves because of the information that we have.

Turn with me if you would please to Romans chapter 10.

We're picking up where we have been studying.

Romans chapter 10, if you'll look with me in verse 1.

Let's dial in here and find the heart of this message for this week's chapter.

Paul writes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be what?

Now, a question that I want to kind of pose to you and kind of linger in your mind for a moment.

When he speaks of Israel here, is he speaking of Israel in the past?

Or is he speaking currently of those Jews who have accepted Christ and are now a part of the church.

I'm not asking you to answer it, I want you to think about it.

Okay, because answering that question actually helps us make sense of chapter 11 when we talk about that next week.

So I want to pose that for you, let you be marinating on that.

For I bear witness, Romans 10 verse 2, are you still with me?

For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God.

I'm glad I worked so hard to have a house so I could go sleep outside.

I'm so glad that I spent all that money on that mattress so I could go sleep on the ground.

Does that sound like I'm zealous about camping if I describe it that way?

Faithful Remnant

Today, you will be listening to Darrell Bentley, pastor of the Metropolitan Seventh-day Adventist Church.

We've been marching through this grand epistle of Romans.

Been asking the question, what would God have us to know?

And last week, we discovered that Israel had been given many chances.

Israel was intentionally ignorant of the things of God.

And so that's now the platform, that's now the basis for which we find ourselves looking into chapter 11.

Israel has been willfully disobedient and willfully ignorant of the things of God.

Does God still have something for those who have been willfully rebellious?

Loving Father, I thank you that we can pause now to open your word.

Father, we have worshipped you in song, We've worshipped you in giving, we've worshipped you in readings and prayer, and now Father we want to worship you in the Word.

And this idea of worship means that we are willing to surrender, to submit, that we're willing to bow down and humble ourselves before you.

So Father, we may not deal with that physically, but I pray that our hearts would be in that posture, that we would be willing to bow to the word of God.

Because we know, Father, that it is in your word that you reveal yourself, you reveal the plan of salvation, and how we should conduct ourselves as your children.

So Lord, I just ask please that you would speak through me, that you would cleanse me of all unrighteousness, that you'd wash over me with the blood of Christ.

Lord give me the words from on high that would be your words to bless your children today.

And I ask for your special blessing, your spirit to be poured out on my brothers and sisters that are here, those that may be watching online.

Father please bring us the blessing that we need today.

Challenge us, encourage us, strengthen us for the journey.

You guys may have figured out by now that I like to learn things.

Series

Fresh Manna By Darryl Bently

Who is My Neighbor?

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Through the Bible

Galatians: A Different Gospel

30m

Fresh Manna By Darryl Bently

Effective and Fervent

51m

Through the Bible

Matthew: Behold Your King

40m

Through the Bible

Habakkuk: Yet I Will Rejoice

52m

Fresh Manna By Jacob Gibbs

I Wish to See Jesus

31m

Fresh Manna By Garhett Morgan

To the Unknown God

30m

Whole Marriages in Broken World

Whole Marriages in a Broken World Part 1

49m

Fresh Manna By Farai Nhiwatiwa

True Freedom

36m

Gideon

A Fleece Woven in Fear

37m

The Ten Commandments By Philip Mills

Do Not Make an IDOL

32m

Daniel

Daniel Chapter 4: The Lowliest of Men

57m

Fresh Manna By Philip Mills

The Personal Christ

34m

Sound Doctrine