Check out these resources gathered by our Resource Team!

RECOMMENDED BOOKS:

Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper

“In this best-selling book, John Piper makes a passionate plea to the next generation to avoid the dangers of a wasted life, calling us to take risks and make sacrifices that matter for eternity — with a single, soul-satisfying passion for the glory of God that seeks to make much of him in every sphere of our lives.” This is an excellent, short book.

Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work by Tim Keller

“With deep insight and often surprising advice, Keller explains that biblical wisdom is immensely relevant to our questions about our work. In fact, the Christian view of work - that we work to serve others, not ourselves - can provide the foundation of a thriving professional and balanced personal life. Keller shows how excellence, integrity, discipline, creativity, and passion in the workplace can help others and even be considered acts of worship - not just of self-interest.”

Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples by Robby Gallaty

“This book offers a manual for making disciples, addressing the what, why, where, and how of discipleship. Robby Gallaty, pastor of Long Hollow Baptist Church and founder and president of Replicate Ministries, teaches you how to utilize D-Groups to grow your relationship with God, how to defend your faith, and how to guide others in their relationships with God.”

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES:

Woman's Missionary Union - Use Your Talents

A short, challenging, and yet encouraging article by a missionary in Botswana.

Desiring God - Have You Buried Your Gifts?

“You have been given talents. Do you know what they are? Do you know how valuable they are? God has given them to you to invest. And someday he will hold you accountable for how you stewarded them.”

Gospel Coalition - Cultivating Gospel Readiness at Work

“The day is coming when each one of us will give an accounting to God for our life. This is a game-changing truth that ought to shape how we live and work now. And since such a large portion of our time on earth is devoted to our jobs, much of our accounting will be answering for the stewardship of the work God has deployed to do.”

Desiring God - It’s Not a Talent Show

An excellent article on the effect comparison has on our lives when it comes to living fully and investing what God has given us.

Gospel Coalition - The Biblical Meaning of Success

This article gives us five important things about the biblical meaning of success. The Parable of the Talents teaches that God gives us everything we need to do what he has called us to do.

RECOMMENDED VIDEOS:

Bible Project - Why Jesus Told Parables (and How You Can Understand Them)

“Jesus of Nazareth was a master storyteller, and many of his most well-known teachings were told as parables. But these stories were designed to do much more than simply "teach." Jesus said the parables were designed to both reveal and conceal his message about the arrival of God's Kingdom. In this video, we explore the main themes in Jesus' parables and ask why he used them as the primary vehicle for his message.”

RECOMMENDED SERMONS:

Matt Chandler - Good Servants, Wicked Servants, And The Enemies Of God

“This sermon is based in Luke 11, the sister parable to Matthew 25’s Parable of the Talents. The good servants of Jesus Christ understand that all they’ve been given—and all that they are—-was given to them by God for God. They are to steward that for His kingdom, for His glory, and for the restoration of all things.”

D.A. Carson - Share Your Master’s Happiness

“D. A. Carson examines the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30, emphasizing the responsibility of Christians to use their gifts to serve and glorify God. He interprets the parable as a call to faithful stewardship, where the faithful servants are rewarded and invited to share in their master’s joy, while the unfaithful servant is cast out for his inaction.”

R.C. Sproul - The Parable of the Talents

“We long to hear that blessed affirmation, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Yet no one will hear it who is unproductive with the gifts entrusted to them. In this message, R.C. Sproul highlights the necessity of wise stewardship in the Christian life.”

Joby Martin - Don’t Waste Your Life

“Joby Martin, Founding and Lead Pastor of The Church of Eleven22, preaches on how we get busy with the comfortable so as to avoid the faithful.” This sermon is done in partnership with Southeastern Seminary.

RECOMMENDED PODCASTS:

Warehouse Podcast

Welcome to The Warehouse! Has a Sunday sermon ever left you running to Google with new theological questions? Have you ever wished that you could peer behind the curtain to see how the message comes together? That’s where we come in! Here at Cornerstone Church, we spend hours every week talking about the Bible. This is the place to learn about Scripture, dive into its context, and study the Bible’s cultural background. Come to the Warehouse–where we’ll extend the stuff you learn from the stage.

Knowing Faith - What You Talking About, Jesus?

“Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley discuss the parables. The parables of Jesus are central to Matthew’s Gospel and valuable to biblical study. But what are they and how should we read them?” While Matthew 25 is not directly addressed, the strategies they discuss can still be applied.

Bible Project - The Purpose of Parables

“Parables are a common tool, even today, for teaching morals through short stories. But is this how Jesus used them? In this first episode of a new series, Tim and Jon talk about what parables are and how Jesus used them in surprising ways.”

Ask Pastor John - Ten Principles for Personal Productivity

“The real question is how to be the fullest, most God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated, loving, humble, mission-advancing, justice-seeking, others-serving person you — you — can be. Don’t measure yourself by others. Measure yourself by your potential in Christ.”

OTHER RESOURCES:

Bible Hub - Commentaries on Matthew 25:14-30

Gospel Coalition - Commentary on Matthew 25:14-30