The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) is observing its annual Financial Information Month (FIM) during the month of October. The local ECCB agency branch led by Country Manager Shirmaine Lynch-Harrigan, along with several of its partners, attended morning worship at the Christian Fellowship Church on the Blowing Point Road on Sunday 1st October, 2023.
A special feature of the service was the visit of a team of students from the neighbouring Adrian T. Hazell Primary School.
The sermon entitled “The Ungodliness of Pride” was preached by Pastor Clyde Richardson. “I was admiring the students, the children, this morning,” he said, “as they voluntarily praised the Lord. I have become aware that as grownups it is pride that keeps us from opening our mouths in God’s house and giving Him praise. It is an ungodly kind of pride that causes people to refuse from giving God the praises that He is worthy of.”
In the area of banking and finance, the pastor admonished the congregation to be wise and diligent enough to handle their finances with honesty and integrity. “We should be the example for our children,” he said. “Let us never be afraid or too proud or affirm our children.”
“We must build them up and encourage them to develop themselves,” the pastor said. “We should motivate our children at a young age to get involved in business ventures. They should be exposed [to] the stock market, and money management while they are still young. They must be taught how to use the bank to make money and not just to store money.”
“We must teach our children the reason why banking institutions exist,” he continued. “They do not exist just to make deposits and withdrawals when you feel like it. We need to teach our children the purpose of the bank and how to use it wisely.”
In quoting the popular Bible teacher, the late Myles Munroe, he said: ‘‘’Where purpose is not known abuse is inevitable’. And a bank is not there just for the purpose of borrowing. Some people borrow money from the bank and don’t make the effort to pay it back. That is wrong. It is called theft.”
The pastor reminded the congregation that the reason why we sign a promissory note when we enter a loan agreement is because we are making a promise to repay. “We must know how to honour our promise,” he said. “We must know how to manage our money wisely, because God blesses those who know how to manage money – those who are wise stewards of their finances.”
Apart from encouraging parents to educate their children on financial management, Pastor Richardson reminded the congregation that, according to the scriptures in Proverbs 13:22, “A righteous man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children, and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.”
Mrs. Lynch-Harrigan expressed her delight over the church’s welcome following the service. “We were indeed pleased to begin FIM by worshipping with our friends at the Christian Fellowship Church. We appreciated the warm welcome, we enjoyed the worship session and we were inspired by the ministry of God’s Word,” she said.
FIM’s Partners who attended the Sunday morning church service, also expressed their delight and appreciation for such a wonderful service.
