Scott LaPierre Ministries

On a recent mission trip to Malawi, Africa, I learned three lessons about God’s plan for our lives. Things didn’t go how I expected at times, but God’s agenda was better than mine. I hope these lessons encourage you when God’s plan seems different than yours. https://youtu.be/EG7D-ivgWLY On a recent mission trip to Malawi, Africa, I learned three lessons about God’s plan for our lives. God’s agend...

From April 26, 2024, to May 11, 2024, I went to Malawi, Africa, to teach at a Bible college and preach at a pastor's conference. On the mission trip, God burdened me with a sermon about being content, which I preached when I arrived home. Table of contentsThinking About Those with Less Should Help Us Being ContentComplaining in the Book of NumbersWealth in the United StatesWealth Doesn’t Produce C...

James 1:15 says, "Desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death." James 1:15 compares sin with pregnancy, pictured in Proverbs 7:24-27. When the foolish young man sinned with the harlot, the union's most obvious and natural result is pregnancy. The child produced from that pregnancy, or sin, is death! Table of contentsSin Begins in the HeartEven...

What does sin do to us? The harlot in Proverbs 7 personifies sin. We can see how she acts toward the foolish young man to see what sin does to us. Table of contentsSin Lies to UsSin Says, “You Won’t Get Caught”God Won't Be MockedWhen It Looked Like David Wouldn't Get CaughtSin Makes Us More Like AnimalsSin Produces a Slow, Painful DeathSin Hunts the FoolishSin Is a Baited HookThe Way Joab Approach...

Paul wrote that “Christ died for our sins [and] was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The Old Testament doesn’t just prophesy that Jesus would die and be raised; it also prophesies that he would be raised on the third day. Where is the Old Testament prophecy of Jesus' death and resurrection on the third day? There are four possibilities. https://you...

What is temptation? The harlot in Proverbs 7 personifies temptation. The harlot pursues the foolish young man like temptation pursues us. The foolish young man should have resisted the harlot like we should resist temptation. Studying her helps us understand how temptation works and better equips us to resist. Table of contentsFoolish People Are Outmatched Against TemptationThe Harlot in Proverbs...

In Luke 12:16-21, Jesus taught the Parable of the Rich Fool. Ironically, the rich fool looked smart, accumulating wealth and succeeding as a farmer and businessman. Learn why God said he was a fool when his life ended.  Read, listen, or watch this material from Your Finances God’s Way to learn from the parable of the rich fool. https://youtu.be/XlQwaVEw090 Jesus taught the Parable of the Rich Fool...

God personifies temptation as a harlot in Proverbs 7. The chapter gives us one of the greatest pictures of temptation in Scripture. The harlot pursues the young man the way temptation pursues us. The chapter also gives us one of the greatest pictures of the foolishness of giving in to temptation. The young man should have resisted the harlot like we should resist temptation. Here are three ways to...

In 1 John 2:12-14 progressive sanctification is divided into three stages: children, young men, and fathers. Twice, the verses mention young men overcoming the evil one. They do so by being spiritually strong, being in God’s Word, being self-controlled, and resisting the harlot in Proverbs 7. Table of contentsYoung Men Overcome the Evil One By Being Spiritually StrongYoung Men Overcome the Evil On...

Progressive sanctification is the process of becoming more like Jesus. Justification is the once-for-all-time moment God declares us righteous by faith in Christ. Progressive sanctification begins after justification and continues throughout our Christian lives until we receive glorified bodies. In 1 John 2:12-14 progressive sanctification is divided into three stages: children, young men, and fat...

Paul said, "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity" (1 Timothy 4:12). Paul says young people should set an example in five ways. Table of contentsWhen Young People Set an Example That Should Be Looked Down OnThe LaPierre HouseholdAddressing One of My Weaknesses as a FatherThe Journey to a...

David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, Uriah, in 2 Samuel 11. We wouldn’t know it from that chapter, but David was paying an excruciating price while he wouldn’t confess. He wrote, “When I kept silent about my sin,” and then described the consequences he experienced in Psalm 32:3-5. Table of contentsOutline for Psalm 32:1-5Psalm 32:3-4 Describes David's Misery When He Ke...

God took away Adam and Eve’s fig leaves and clothed them himself. He stopped them from covering themselves, and he covered them. This is a physical picture of a spiritual reality. God doesn’t want us to cover our sins. He wants to cover our sins for us. In Psalm 32:1 David wrote, "Blessed are those whose sins are covered." We can't cover our sins. When we try, we fail. We still see our sin. It is...

Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22 at the end of the parable of the vineyard owner: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." In a few days, the religious leaders arrest Jesus and murder him. They look victorious, and he looks defeated, but this verse lets everyone know he will be victorious, and they will be defeated. Even though they rejected Jesus, God the Father chose to exalt...

The Parable of the Vineyard Owner and the Wicked Husbandmen is in Matthew 21: 33-46, Mark 12:1-12, and Luke 20:9-18. As the owner continued to send servant after servant after servant (the way God sent prophet after prophet after prophet), it says much about the tenants and how stiff-necked and rebellious they were. But it says even more about the vineyard owner (God) who kept sending them because...

The owner comes looking for fruit in the Song of the Vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-7. He didn't send servants too early when the tenants were not ready. God is not expecting us to produce fruit that we are not ready to produce yet. But because of all God has done for his vineyard, whether Israel in the Old Testament or the church in the New Testament, he still expects fruit. Table of contentsDon't Take G...

John the Baptist told people to “Prepare the way of the Lord.” There’s no record of Jesus walking around saying, “Man, these roads are terrible. Why didn’t anyone fix things up for me?” The preparation he wanted was spiritual instead of physical. Jesus didn’t care about having better roads to walk on, but he did care about people having better hearts to receive him. Table of contentsThe Old Testam...

Jesus' authority was questioned by the elders, chief priests, and scribes in Matthew 21:23-27, Mark 11:27-33, and Luke 20:1-8. The religious leaders “were afraid of the people” (Mark 11:32). They wouldn’t obey Jesus, but they would obey man because we obey what we fear. Table of contentsThe Chief Priests, Scribes, and Elders Questioned Jesus' AuthorityThe Chief PriestsThe ScribesThe EldersThe Reli...

The blood of the lamb of God saves us. Jesus’ life was important. He had to be unblemished to serve as our Passover Lamb. But if Jesus had stayed alive, he wouldn’t have helped us anymore than any Passover lambs would’ve helped anyone if they weren’t sacrificed. Table of contentsThree Things That Could not Deliver Israel from EgyptFirst, Moses Could not Deliver IsraelSecond, the First Nine Plagues...

According to Exodus 12:1-6, families were to get a lamb on the tenth day of the month of Nisan, examine it, and sacrifice it on the fourteenth. The five days between the tenth and fourteenth look forward to the days between the triumphal entry and crucifixion when Christ, our Passover Lamb, was examined. https://youtu.be/3SbLjawBeKU The days between Nisan 10th and 14th (Exodus 12:1-6) look forward...

The second instance of Jesus cleansing the temple of corruption is in all three synoptic Gospels (Matthew 21:12-16, Mark 11:15-18, Luke 19:45-48). The first instance is only in John 2:12-25 right after the wedding at Cana when Jesus’ ministry began. The first thing Jesus did after his ministry began was cleanse the temple, and the first thing he did after making his triumphal entry into Jerusalem...

Jesus weeps over Jerusalem in Luke 19:41-44. After the triumphal entry, in the midst of the shouting, worshiping, multitude, was a weeping King. Jesus saw the Jews' coming judgment for rejecting him in five days. Table of contentsThe Bible Contains Vivid Descriptions of Men CryingJeremiah’s Weeping Is a Type of Jesus’ WeepingWhy Did Jesus Weep Over Jerusalem? The Jews Rejected Peace When They Reje...

The Jews misunderstood Old Testament prophecies of Jesus' Coming. The Old Testament compressed prophecies of Jesus' first and second coming, leading the Jews to believe all the prophecies would be fulfilled in one coming. Table of contentsThe Old Testament Prophecies of Jesus' Coming Were CompressedJohn the Baptist Questioned Whether Jesus was the Messiah, Because He Misunderstood Old Testament Pr...

At the triumphal entry Jesus's "disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice" (Luke 19:37). The Pharisees said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples” (Luke 19:40). Jesus responded, "I tell you, if these were silent, even the rocks will cry out." This was the only time Jesus permitted a public demonstration on his behalf. On this day there would be no silencing the welcoming of t...

Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem is one of the unique accounts that's found in all four gospels (Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-10, Luke 19:28-40, and John 12:12-19). The account fulfills the prophecy in Zachariah 9:9 and reveals Jesus's Messiahship and Kingship. Table of contentsThe Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem Fulfilled ProphecyA Surprising ProphecyA Full Understanding of the Triumphal Entry...