Do you know what "mammon" is? Did you know that you have it, even if you don't realize it? Most of us have heard about money and wealth our whole lives, but Jesus uses a word that goes much deeper than what's in our wallets or bank accounts and what he says about it might just change everything about how you see what you own.

What if the greatest battle you'll ever face has already been decided and you're on the winning side? That might sound too good to be true, but it's exactly what the Apostle Paul declares as he closes his letter to the church in Ephesus. The good news is that in Jesus' death and resurrection, all who receive the salvation he offers are set free from slavery to sin and death and declared righteous in the sight of God, not because of anything we have done, but because of what God in Christ has done for us.

How often have you sent a text only to look back in horror and see that auto-correct changed a word or two that completely changed the whole meaning? Our well-meaning devices think they're being helpful, but so many times they don't understand what we say and default to some other word they do know. We've all had moments in our lives when we truly intended to do the right thing, but somehow our spiritual auto-correct defaulted back to our old sinful nature. Whether it's our old anger, attitudes, speech, or bad habits that continue to trip us up, the Apostle Paul has something important to say about it.

In September 1999, NASA lost a $125 million Mars probe, not because of an asteroid, not because of alien interference, but because two teams of rocket scientists weren't unified. One team used the metric system, the other used the imperial system, and neither side recognized the error until it was obviously too late. A $125 million satellite completely destroyed because of a lack of unity in the process of completing the mission. If that kind of disunity can destroy a mission to Mars, what does disunity do to the mission of the Church?