Ben Kent serves as the Senior Pastor at Reach Christian Church, located in Queensland’s Central West at Longreach. His journey of faith began in the late ’90s, and Ben has been actively involved in ministry since the early 2000s.
Following their roles as Assistant Pastors at their home church in Stanthorpe, Ben and his wife Jenelle took on a leadership position at Reach Christian Church five years ago, prompting them to relocate their young family.
Recently, Ben shared a special 5-minute sermon with us during Sunday Morning Together, highlighting his passion for the Gospel and providing some practical insights on how we can apply it to our everyday lives.
Read Ben’s full message below:
‘I just want to share with you a very familiar passage of scripture. In John 14:6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. He makes it very clear in this passage, there’s only one way out and there’s only one way up.
It’s fascinating to me how many applications you can fit on these smartphones that we all carry around these days. There are useless apps and there are useful apps. My kids seem to load a lot of useless apps on my phone without me looking, but there are some useful ones.
One of the more useful ones is the compass. The thing about the compass is that you open the app, and you pick up your phone and hold it flat. And of course, it’ll point you true north. It’s useful in my estimation, but some people would say that app is useless to them.
Why would it be useless and not useful? There are probably three reasons that it’d be useless to most people. The first one is, I know my way. I don’t need a compass. The second one is, I have signs. And the third one is, I have a GPS. I don’t need a compass because I have these things.
The true value of the compass on our phone if we have it as an app, is unrecognised. With that in mind, the Bible was the original source of apps. The Bible is full of applications for life. 2 Timothy 3:16, says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
One of the applications of your Bible is that it is a compass. If we pull the Bible out with an honest heart, if we hold it flat, if we hold it true, if we hold it honestly, it points to true north. It points to Jesus. He is our true North. All 66 books point to Christ the Lord.
I can paraphrase John 14:6 loosely by saying Jesus is true north, and He is the direction for your life. We need to beware of Christianity that doesn’t value the compass that is within the Word of God. There are three reasons that we’ve already touched on as to why people don’t value Christ as their direction for life.
The first one is, it sneaks up on you. I know my way. Familiarity in Christianity can sneak in without you ever realising it. We can be tricked into thinking that Jesus is somehow a fashion accessory that we put in our pocket, or a piece of jewellery that we hang around our neck. He is not that. He is the compass.
I think after 40, 50, or 60 years of following Jesus, our confession should always be, I don’t know my way. Jesus, show me the way. He is our compass. As we well know, one degree over a lifetime can lead you way off track. Beware of that.
The second reason why we might say I don’t need the compass of Christ in my daily life is that there are signs. I love signs. Signs are great and signs are handy, especially when I get lost in Brisbane, which is not hard! I’m always looking for a sign.
But when it comes to our Christianity, we’ve got to make sure we’re not living our lives based on signs and circumstances. We have to come back to Christ as the real source and the only source of direction in life.
And the third one. I don’t need a compass. I don’t need Christ daily as my direction because I have a GPS. What the TV says, and what the culture says can direct us if we’re not careful. There will always be someone with a lot of money and a lot of influence ready to direct you.
So let’s come back to the basics of listening to Christ in our daily life. He is our compass. He is our direction. Holy Spirit, we ask you to reveal Jesus to us afresh, to direct us in our daily life that we wouldn’t be deceived by other things telling us where to go.
Jesus, you are our source. We look to you. You are our true North. We thank you for it, Father. In Jesus name, Amen.’
Listen to Ben’s full message on Sunday Morning Together below:
