Scott LaPierre Ministries

The Book of Ezra records one of the most remarkable moments in Israel's history: the return of the Jews from seventy years of exile in Babylon. This overview of the Book of Ezra will give you the framework you need to understand the post-exilic period — the three returns from exile, the rebuilding of the temple, and why the prophet Haggai had to preach to a people who had stopped working on God's...

Ask almost any Christian to tell you the Easter story, and they can: the cross on Friday, the grave on Saturday, the stone rolled away on Sunday, the empty tomb, the folded grave clothes, the risen Lord, and the disciples who could hardly believe their eyes. We have built an entire season of the year around that account. But ask what happened next — the ascension of Jesus — and many believers are...

Proclaiming the gospel to all nations is not an optional assignment for especially gifted Christians. It is part of Christ’s final instructions to His people. In Luke 24:47–49, Jesus tells His disciples that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins” must be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Then He calls them witnesses and promises them power from on high. https://you...

Repentance for the forgiveness of sins is the message Jesus gave His disciples after His resurrection. He did not tell them to preach: penance for the forgiveness of sins religious works for the forgiveness of sins or self-punishment for the forgiveness of sins He told them that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name. One of the most important questions anyone can...

The Word of the Lord fulfilled in Christ is one of the great themes running through all of Scripture. From the opening words of Genesis to the risen Christ explaining the Old Testament in Luke 24, the Bible reveals one unified story: God speaks, God promises, God sends His Word, and that Word is ultimately Jesus Christ. https://youtu.be/zg74q5OenbU Table of contentsThe Word of the Lord Created All...

One of the most beautiful truths in Scripture is God’s compassion for sinners. Many people imagine God the Father as harsh, distant, angry, and reluctant to forgive, while they see Jesus as merciful, gentle, and willing to receive sinners. But the Bible never presents the Father and Son as divided in heart, will, or purpose. The Father is not trying to destroy sinners while the Son holds Him back....

The proof of the resurrection in Luke 24:37–43 is not vague, symbolic, or merely emotional. Jesus did not ask His disciples to believe in a resurrection without evidence. He stood before them, showed them His hands and feet, invited them to touch Him, and even ate in front of them. The risen Christ graciously helped troubled, doubting disciples believe what was gloriously true. For the last few we...

There are moments in life when the next few words out of someone’s mouth mean everything. Jesus’ first words after the resurrection were one of those moments. After His disciples had abandoned Him, denied Him, doubted Him, and failed Him, the risen Christ stood among them and said, “Peace to you” (Luke 24:36). https://youtu.be/4qKxuCTXvRA Table of contentsWhen First Words MatterJesus Began His Min...

Have you ever read the Bible, heard the truth, and still felt like you could not see Christ as clearly as you should? Luke 24:28–35 reminds us that Jesus opens our eyes in His timing, warms our hearts through His Word, and gives us urgency to tell others that He is risen. For the last two weeks, we have been walking with two disciples along the road to Emmaus. Jesus drew near to them as a stranger...

Jesus is our Sabbath rest, which means Christians no longer look to one day, one land, or one law for the rest God provides. The Sabbath was good, but it pointed beyond itself to something greater. Under the New Covenant, believers find true rest in Christ—rest from striving to earn salvation, rest from the crushing burden of law-keeping, and rest in the finished work of our Savior. That does not...

One of the most important lessons in Luke 24:22–27 is how the Old Testament points to Jesus. On the road to Emmaus, two discouraged disciples had the evidence of the resurrection, but they still lacked understanding. They knew the tomb was empty. They knew the women had reported that angels said Jesus was alive. They knew others had gone to the tomb and confirmed the women’s report. Yet they still...

The road to Emmaus account in Luke 24 shows us two disciples who saw the physical facts clearly but missed the spiritual reality entirely. They knew Jesus had been crucified. They had heard reports about the empty tomb. They even knew it was the third day. But despite having the facts, they did not understand what God was doing through Christ's death and resurrection. These two disciples were not...

Young men overcome the evil one not by willpower alone, but by spiritual strength, self-control, and the Word of God abiding in them. That is exactly what John teaches in 1 John 2:13–14, and it is a message young men desperately need in a culture that seems designed to weaken, distract, and tempt them. There is only audio for this message, so you can listen to the teaching below through the podcas...

Spiritual blindness and spiritual sight are at the heart of Mark 8 and John 9. In these passages, Jesus shows that people can have functioning physical eyes yet remain blind to spiritual truth. One blind man sees dimly before seeing clearly, while another grows step by step in his understanding of Christ until he finally worships Him. At the same time, the Pharisees reveal the danger of self-right...

Why do Christians worship on Sunday instead of Saturday? In Part 1, we saw that the seventh-day Sabbath belonged to the Old Covenant mediated by Moses and given to Israel. In Part 2, we move from the covenantal foundation to the New Testament evidence. The resurrection of Jesus on the first day of the week, the worship pattern of the early church, and the fulfillment of the Sabbath in Christ all h...

This post is Part 1 of a two-part Sunday school series on why Christians worship on Sunday instead of Saturday. In this first article, we will lay the covenantal foundation by looking at the Old Covenant, the New Covenant, and the Sabbath. Table of contentsThe Sabbath belonged to the Old Covenant given to Israel through MosesJesus instituted the New Covenant in His bloodEach covenant had its own l...

Responding to the resurrection is not merely about celebrating Easter once a year. It is about how we interpret the empty tomb, how we respond to Christ’s promises, and how we live in light of Jesus' resurrection. In Luke 24:7–12, we see that the resurrection calls for more than admiration. It calls for remembrance, faith, witness, and wonder. One of the great comforts in the Christian life is kno...

The empty tomb and the resurrection of Jesus stand at the center of the Christian faith. Luke 24:1-6 brings us to the greatest event in human history: Jesus Christ, who was crucified for sinners, did not remain in the grave. He rose again. After all the teaching, miracles, compassion, confrontations, betrayal, suffering, and burial, Luke’s Gospel reaches its glorious climax here. Jesus was not mer...

We live in a world overflowing with information but lacking wisdom, which is why we desperately need God’s wisdom. People have endless access to opinions, advice, and content, yet lives are still marked by confusion, bad decisions, and foolishness. The problem is not that we need more knowledge. The problem is that we need the wisdom that comes from the Lord. Job asked this same question when he g...

In Luke 23:50-56, Joseph of Arimathea and the women who faithfully honored Jesus show us what true discipleship looks like when following Christ is costly, quiet, and seemingly unrewarded. Jesus had been abandoned by His closest followers, condemned by the religious leaders, and executed by Rome. But in that dark moment, God still preserved faithful disciples who stayed near Christ and honored Him...

Why Jesus’ body is called the veil is one of the most beautiful truths in Hebrews 10:19–20, because it explains how sinners like us can enter God’s presence with confidence through the torn flesh and shed blood of Christ. For centuries, the Old Testament taught distance, separation, and holy fear. But in Jesus, the barrier has been removed, and the way to the Father has been opened. If you read th...

Why was the temple veil torn in Matthew 27:51 and Luke 23:45? It is one of the clearest pictures in Scripture of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. When the curtain in the temple was torn in two, God was showing that Christ’s sacrifice opened access to Him for sinners who could never come near on their own. https://youtu.be/EhfEFVtAZqY Table of contentsAccess to God was limited under the Old Co...

If people claim to be sent by God, how would you know whether they really were? Scripture teaches that miracles function as God’s public endorsement—His witness that a messenger truly is from Him. And nowhere is that clearer than in the miracles at Jesus’ death, when the Father surrounded the crucifixion with signs that testified that Christ is the One He sent. https://youtu.be/OmsxbrahPI0 Table o...

“Paradise” is one of those Bible words that feels instantly comforting—until you slow down and ask, What exactly does it mean? Paradise in the New Testament appears only three times, and when you line those passages up, they raise a question many believers have wondered about: Where was Jesus between His death and resurrection? Table of contentsWhere “paradise” appears in the New TestamentParadise...

The account of the two thieves on the cross is one of the clearest pictures in Scripture of how identical circumstances can produce opposite responses to Jesus. Side-by-side, they saw the same Savior, heard the same words, endured the same suffering, and faced the same urgency—yet one hardened his heart while the other repented and believed. Their final moments preach a timeless message: what ulti...