This session continues Jesus’ teaching on money in Matthew 6 with the powerful declaration, “You cannot serve both God and money.” We explore what Jesus means by “mammon” and consider how wealth can become more than something we possess—it can become a system that possesses us. Through Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple, we see a critique not simply of individual greed but of religious systems that exploit people financially while claiming to serve God. The Temple becomes a picture of what happens when worship is overtaken by money, profit, and empire.

We also consider what it means to resist the influence of materialism and use our resources for God’s kingdom community. From John Wesley’s radical generosity to the story of Laurentius identifying widows and orphans as the church’s true treasures, this session asks a fundamental question: Who is our master—mammon or God? Rather than simply telling us to manage money better, Jesus invites us into a radically different way of living marked by generosity, justice, freedom, and shared flourishing.