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Why did God let Goliath be born? Why did He let him grow, win battle after battle, and mock His name for 40 days? The same question sits behind every diagnosis, every funeral and every broken home: God, why? In Part 9 of the 1 Samuel 17 series, Pastor Justin Cooper shows that David answered it on the battlefield: "that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel."

What's the difference between heaven and hell? One word: grace. In "A Glimpse of Grace," Brother Joe goes back to the first time that word ever appears in Scripture, Genesis 6:8, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." In a world as dark as ours, Noah's ark was God's plan of escape, and it is one of the clearest pictures of Jesus in the entire Old Testament.

You've probably heard that David refused King Saul's armor because it was too big. The Bible never says that. In 1 Samuel 17:39, David says, "I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them." He had never tested it, never worn it, never trusted God in it — so with two armies watching, the boldest young man in Israel stopped and took it off. Pastor Justin Cooper calls it the principle of proving things, and it may be the most practical message in this whole series. Here's why it matters now: there is a decision in front of you. A job, a relationship, a move, a church. How are you going to make it — on a feeling, on pressure, or on the will of God?

Nothing is as frustrating as a locked door, especially when you know what's on the other side. In John 3, a religious leader named Nicodemus discovers there is a locked door between him and the kingdom of God, and that nothing he has ever done can open it. In this message, Pastor Justin Cooper explains the problem, the process, and the one provision God made to get you through.

Nicodemus had it all — money, education, a seat on the ruling council, and more religion than anyone in the city. And he still came to Jesus in the middle of the night because none of it could give him peace. In this message from John 3, Pastor Justin Cooper unpacks the most important conversation in the Bible: what it means to be born again, and why nothing else can get you to heaven.

Why would God send His Son instead of an angel? Why did it have to be Jesus? In 1 Samuel 17, a father named Jesse chose his beloved son David to carry provision down to his brothers on the battlefront — and in that moment, the whole gospel comes into focus. In this message, Pastor Justin Cooper unfolds "The Beloved Son Sent to the Battle" and shows how David points us straight to Jesus Christ.

You reach for the biggest thing you can think of to describe God — a mountain, an ocean, a galaxy — and every time it falls short, because He made all of it. In this message, Pastor Justin Cooper of Gospel Light Baptist Church walks through John 2:18–19, where Jesus answered a demand for proof with a statement only God could make: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

You've heard the story of David and Goliath since you were a child — but you've never heard it like this. In this message, Pastor Justin Cooper unfolds 1 Samuel 17 verse by verse and reveals the shepherd boy from Bethlehem as a stunning picture of Jesus Christ, the true and unlikely Champion who walked down into our valley to fight a battle we could never win.

Most of us picture Jesus as gentle and mild — and He is a compassionate shepherd. But in John 2 He makes a whip of cords and drives the money changers out of His Father's house. Why? Because the temple was full of merchandise and empty of God. In "When Jesus Comes to Church," Pastor Justin Cooper of Gospel Light Baptist Church shows what happens when religion replaces reality — and what real revival actually looks like.

If you've ever wondered whether it's on you to keep yourself saved, this message will set you free. Pastor Justin Cooper opens Galatians 1 and draws a hard, hopeful line between the one true gospel and the counterfeits crowding in around it.

Everybody knows David and Goliath. Almost nobody sees what's really happening in it. In this message, Pastor Justin Cooper opens 1 Samuel 17 and shows that the giant in the valley is a picture of the enemy you and I could never defeat on our own — and that the shepherd who beat him points us straight to Jesus.

Why is it that people will run from a burning house without a second thought — but hesitate for years over the most important decision of their lives? In this message, Pastor Justin Cooper opens John chapter 1 and the story of Nathaniel, a skeptic who became a believer the instant he realized Jesus had already seen him.

You already know how the David and Goliath story ends. But before the giant ever falls, there's a picture worth stopping on — two armies, two hills, and a valley with no place to stand in the middle. In this message from 1 Samuel 17, Pastor Justin Cooper asks a question that won't let go: the line has been drawn, but is your loyalty as clear as the line?

Ever feel like you're doing everything right and still stuck in a dry, difficult, lonely season? This message is for you. Pastor Justin Cooper opens the life of John the Baptist and shows that before the greatest sentence any preacher ever spoke — "Behold the Lamb of God" — came thirty silent years in the desert. The desert isn't the end of your story. It's the making of it.

Nobody trips and falls into their worst decision. They walk there — one casual step at a time. In this message, Pastor Justin Cooper unpacks 1 Samuel 15 and the sobering truth that when a believer drifts, somebody downstream always feels it. It's a warning, but it's a warning from a pastor who loves his people enough to preach it.