Video Transcript: DNA Part Two: Dr. Chip Bennett

An Aha Moment That Changed Everything

Have you ever had an aha moment?

A moment where everything clicked?

Maybe it was:

• A career realization—you knew it was time for a change.
• A relationship breakthrough—you finally saw things differently.
• A family misunderstanding—you realized you had it all wrong.

We've all had them—those moments where our perspective shifts and everything becomes clear.

I want to tell you about an aha moment that changed my life…
and shaped Grace Community Church into what it is today.

The Why Behind the What

Before I share that, let me bring everyone up to speed on this series.

We're in a series called DNA.

Every year, I start the year by revisiting:

• Who we are as a church.
• Why we do what we do.
• What God has called us to be.

It's important to come back to this foundation.

• It helps new people get to know us.
• It reminds longtime members of our mission.
• It keeps us focused on our purpose.

This series is not about what we do—it’s about why we do it.

Why do we reach the unchurched?
Why do we serve our community?
Why do we exist as a church?

At Grace, we have eight pillars that define our culture.

If you're a parent, take a walk through our children’s wing—you’ll see them displayed.

We teach these pillars from an early age
because we want this church to be laser-focused on Jesus.

This year, I believe we have incredible opportunities for God to move.

I don’t see obstacles.

I see possibilities.

But to move forward, we need to remember our foundation.

And that brings me back to my aha moment.

The Aha Moment That Changed My Perspective

I was 19 years old.

When I became a Christian, I became obsessed with reading Scripture.

• I would read four to five hours a day.
• I was known on campus as "the Bible guy."
• I carried my Bible everywhere.

And let me tell you—I was intense.

I thought:

If you're not reading the Bible as much as I am, you must not love Jesus enough.

I even had a Ford Escort (not a cool car, by the way).
And I had a giant sticker on the back that said:

"JESUS SAVES"

That was me—driving around, Bible in hand, telling everyone:

"Are you reading the Bible enough?!"

A Conversation That Shook Me

One day, I sat down with an older, wiser Christian mentor.

I started in on him:

"Are you reading the Bible enough?"
"Are you really in the Word?"

I expected him to feel convicted.

Instead, he just smiled and asked me a question:

"Do you know that Christianity is about Jesus?"

I scoffed.

"Of course it is! That’s why you need to read the Bible more!"

Then he asked me another question…

and it changed everything.

What If…?

He looked at me and said:

"What if someone had no access to the Bible,
but they had Jesus?
Would they still be saved?"

I froze.

I had never thought about that before.

Because in my young, zealous mind, Christianity was all about reading the Bible.

But he challenged me to think:

The Bible tells us about Jesus, but it's not the Bible that saves us—it's Jesus Himself.

That wrecked my perspective.

I realized that while I had been obsessed with the Bible,
I had missed the Person behind it—Jesus Himself.

The Shift That Changed Our Church

That conversation planted a seed in me.

It took years to grow,
but it eventually shaped the DNA of our church.

Because Grace Community Church is not about religion.

It’s about Jesus.

We don’t exist to make people "better rule followers."

We exist to:

• Introduce people to Jesus.
• Help them encounter His love.
• See their lives transformed.

We love the Bible.
We study the Bible.
We preach the Bible.

But the Bible is not the goal.

Jesus is.

What This Means for You

Let me ask you the same question:

Is your faith in a book, or is it in a Person?

Don’t misunderstand me:

The Bible is God’s Word, and we cherish it.

But our faith is in the One the Bible points to—Jesus Christ.

That’s why:

• We don’t get caught up in legalism.
• We don’t reduce Christianity to a list of rules.
• We focus on relationship over rituals.

Because at the core of our faith is not a book, a church, or a tradition…
It’s Jesus Himself.

Let’s go back to my aha moment.

I was reading John 5, and Jesus said something that shook me to my core.

He said to the Jewish leaders:

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life;
but it is they that bear witness about Me,
yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life."

That wrecked me.

Because I had been obsessed with reading the Bible,
but I wasn’t coming to Jesus.

I was reading for knowledge,
but I wasn’t reading for relationship.

I was reading to correct others,
but I wasn’t reading to connect with Him.

And that realization haunted me.

I started thinking:

"What if I’ve been chasing the wrong thing?
What if I’ve been pursuing the book,
but missing the Person?"

That was my aha moment.

I realized that:

• I could know a lot about Jesus, but not know Him personally.
• I could quote Bible verses, but not live them out.
• I could talk about prayer, but not actually pray.

And I knew that if I had been trapped in that mindset,
others were too.

That’s why Grace Community Church is the way it is today.

Because we don’t want people to just know the Bible—
we want people to know Jesus.

The Danger of Just Knowing & Talking

The trap I had fallen into is something we all do.

It’s easy to mistake:

• Knowing something for doing something.
• Talking about something for actually living it.

Even James, the brother of Jesus, saw this problem in the early church.

He wrote to Christians—people who were:

• Scattered.
• Suffering.
• Living in political and social turmoil.

And here’s what he said:

"Know this, my beloved brothers:
let every person be quick to hear,
slow to speak,
slow to anger."
(James 1:19)

Let’s break that down:

• Be quick to hear.
• Be slow to speak.
• Be slow to anger.

Why?

Because:

"The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."
(James 1:20)

The Reality Check

Think about this:

How often do we:

• Rush to speak instead of truly listening?
• Get angry first instead of pausing to pray?
• React emotionally instead of responding with wisdom?

James is saying:

"Calm down. Slow down. Listen first.
Your anger isn’t bringing people closer to God."

And then he goes deeper:

"Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness,
and receive with meekness the implanted Word,
which is able to save your souls."
(James 1:21)

What’s the filthiness and wickedness he’s talking about?

It’s how we use our words.

• The way we blast people online.
• The way we tear others down.
• The way we put our opinions above loving people.

James is saying:

"You’re supposed to be different.
You’re supposed to follow Jesus.
Stop acting like everyone else."

Are We Just Hearing, or Are We Doing?

Then James drops the mic:

"Be doers of the word,
and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
(James 1:22)

This is huge.

Because it’s possible to:

• Hear the Word, but not live it out.
• Know the Bible, but not reflect Jesus.
• Talk about faith, but never take action.

And James says, if we do that…

"We are deceiving ourselves."

That’s what hit me as a 19-year-old.

I thought I was on fire for God…
but I was just talking about Him.

I wasn’t living like Him.

What This Means for Us Today

James' message is just as relevant today as it was in the first century.

We live in a world where:

• Everyone has an opinion.
• Everyone is quick to speak.
• Everyone is slow to listen.
• Anger is everywhere.

But as followers of Jesus, we are called to be different.

• Quick to listen.
• Slow to speak.
• Slow to anger.

Why?

Because our goal is not to win arguments.

Our goal is to win people to Jesus.

Three Questions for Reflection

Let’s get real:

1️⃣ Are you just knowing and talking, or are you doing?
2️⃣ Are you more focused on being right or being Christlike?
3️⃣ Is your life centered on the Person of Jesus, or just the idea of Him?

Because Christianity isn’t just about:

• Reading the Bible.
• Knowing doctrine.
• Being part of a church.

It’s about:

• Walking with Jesus.
• Loving like Jesus.
• Living like Jesus.

The DNA of Grace: We Do Jesus (Continued)

When Jesus is at the center, it changes everything.

• It shifts us from being just knowers to true doers.
• It realigns us to our real mission—which is Jesus and His Gospel.
• It keeps us from distraction, from the noise, and from things that do not save anyone.

Let’s dive back in and see why this is so important.

1. The DNA of Grace Being Jesus Means… We Focus on the Main Thing

I want you to hear me clearly on this:

The American Church is in turmoil, not because of Jesus,
but because we have made other things more important than Jesus.

We have become:

• More focused on politics than the Gospel.
• More passionate about correcting people than connecting them to Christ.
• More concerned with who is wrong than with who needs to be saved.

And listen…

The world is not going to be saved by getting the right person in the White House.
The world is going to be saved when Jesus Christ is lifted up
and we proclaim Him as Lord!

That’s why at Grace, we will always do Jesus.

Because everything else fades,
but Jesus remains.

2. The DNA of Grace Being Jesus Means… We Are Doers, Not Just Hearers

James tells us:

"Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
(James 1:22)

I need you to catch this:

• Knowing the Bible is not the goal.
• Knowing theology is not the goal.
• Winning arguments is not the goal.

The goal is to know Jesus and to make Him known.

And when you really know Jesus… you do what He says.

If we:

• Talk about prayer but never actually pray… we are deceiving ourselves.
• Study Scripture but never live it out… we are deceiving ourselves.
• Debate doctrine but never love our neighbors… we are deceiving ourselves.

At Grace Community Church, we will be doers.
We will live out the faith we proclaim.

3. The DNA of Grace Being Jesus Means… We Love Like Jesus

The world is filled with:

• Judgment.
• Division.
• Hatred.

But Jesus calls us to something radically different:

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another."
(John 13:35)

It’s not by:

• How much theology we know.
• How well we argue.
• How many Bible verses we can quote.

It’s by our love.

And listen:

Love is not weakness.
Love is power.

Because love transforms hearts.

At Grace, we will be known for:

• Radical grace.
• Unwavering kindness.
• An unshakable commitment to Jesus.

And if people get offended, let it only be because of the truth of the Gospel,
not because of our attitude.

4. The DNA of Grace Being Jesus Means… We Don’t Get Distracted

I need you to catch this:

The enemy doesn’t need to get us to reject Jesus.

All he has to do is get us to:

• Be distracted.
• Be consumed by lesser things.
• Fight battles that don’t matter for eternity.

Because the moment we take our eyes off Jesus,
we lose sight of our mission.

At Grace, we will not:

❌ Get lost in political wars.
❌ Waste time arguing over secondary issues.
❌ Focus on what divides instead of Who unites.

We will keep Jesus at the center.

Because when we do Jesus, everything else falls into place.

5. The DNA of Grace Being Jesus Means… We Are a Life-Saving Station

I read you the story earlier.

The one about the life-saving station
that slowly turned into a club.

And let me tell you something:

That’s happening all over America.

Churches have become:

• Comfortable clubs instead of rescue missions.
• Places of preference instead of places of power.
• Centers of entertainment instead of centers of transformation.

Not here.

Not at Grace Community Church.

We are not a club.

We are a life-saving station.

And as long as I am here,
as long as these lights are on,
we will rescue the lost,
preach Jesus,
and bring people to the cross.

Because nothing else matters.

The Power of Doing Jesus

Father, we know that only Jesus saves.

• Not our arguments.
• Not our opinions.
• Not our debates.

Only Jesus.

And so, Lord, let us be a church that never strays from the main thing.

Keeping Jesus at the Center

When we keep Jesus at the center, it changes everything.

• It reminds us that it’s not about us, but about Him.
• It shifts our focus from judgment to grace.
• It calls us to be doers, not just hearers.

The early church got it.

“And the Lord added to their number day by day
those who were being saved.”
(Acts 2:47)

Why?

Because they were doing Jesus.

• They weren’t picking fights.
• They weren’t majoring in the minors.
• They weren’t caught up in the noise.

They were laser-focused on the Gospel.

What Happens When We Do Jesus?

1️⃣ We Become a Church That People Want to Be Around

Let me say it again:

Jesus was liked by people far from God.

• Sinners wanted to be around Him.
• The broken wanted to hear Him.
• The outcasts felt safe with Him.

If we are doing Jesus right, people will draw near.

2️⃣ We Create an Environment of Joy, Not Division

"They received their food with glad and generous hearts,
praising God and having favor with all the people."
(Acts 2:46-47)

Let me ask you:

• When was the last time church felt like that?
• When was the last time people said, ‘Wow, I love being here’?
• When was the last time we focused more on Jesus than on our preferences?

When we do Jesus, we create a culture of life.

3️⃣ We Make an Impact in the Community

"And having favor with all the people."
(Acts 2:47)

Think about that.

• The church wasn’t hated.
• The church wasn’t known for being divisive.
• The church was loved.

Why?

Because they were doing Jesus.

And listen, if people reject us for preaching the Gospel, that’s fine.

But if they reject us because we’re mean-spirited,
judgmental,
or unkind…

That’s on us.

A Church That Does Jesus

So let me ask you:

Do you want to be a part of that kind of church?

• A church that is laser-focused on Jesus?
• A church that brings people to Him instead of pushing them away?
• A church that loves well, serves well, and preaches the Gospel boldly?

That’s the church I want to be a part of.

That’s Grace Community Church.

And as long as I’m here,
as long as these lights are on,
as long as God allows me to preach,

We will do Jesus.

Final Prayer

Father,

• Let this church be known for Jesus.
• Let our words, our actions, and our love reflect Jesus.
• Let us be a life-saving station, not a clubhouse.
• Let us be a people that bring others to You, not push them away.

And, Lord, if there is anyone here,
anyone online,
who doesn’t know You,

I pray that tonight would be their aha moment.

That they would see You for who You are,
that they would believe in You,
and that they would surrender their life to You.

Because, Lord, You are worthy.

And we will spend our days doing Jesus,
because there is nothing greater.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.