Dear Parishioners,

           We are living in financially uncertain times with the American government having to bail out Wall Street and at home Bradford and Bingley, and Northern Rock having to be saved. People are understandably angry with the idea of bailing out banks because they have been taking risks with everybody's money in an irresponsible way for the last ten years. Everybody seemed okay whilst the economy seemed to be doing so well. The chicken’s , however, were just biding their time and waiting to come home to roost.

Why has it all gone wrong?

Large banks and financial orginisations have been lending money to people to buy homes that they could not afford. In the boom economy banks and mortgage lenders gave people 100% mortgages which could only work if nothing threatened people’s income or the larger national economy. Starting in America people started to default on their mortgages and the stock market began to buy up the so called bad debts and hid them in their systems. The greed culture developed in the short term-mist bonus culture that grew in the large financial orginisations and has led to the banks/lenders shooting themselves in the foot. Paying people extravagant bonuses for short term gains and taking their eyes off the long-term prosperity of the companies has exacerbated what was an already dangerously debt-ridden society. The country and many people are heavily in debt and will find it very difficult to pay their mortgages and clear their debts as the credit has dried up.

Temporary gains verses long-term Prosperity

God wants people to think about their long-term futures. He says that putting your trust in wealth is like building your house on a cobweb. Wealth can make this life very comfortable but God wants us to focus on eternal things and not just the temporary pleasures that this world seems to offer. Money can buy a lot of things but it cannot purchase the inner peace that only God can give to the repentant heart. God says that there is nothing wrong with accumulating great wealth but that it the desiring it above all else that corrupts the human heart. What we are witnessing today in the financial world is the sin of greed and its power to corrupt and undermine society. The governments of the world may bail out the banks but only God can bail out the the greedy sinner and give inner peace that will last forever.

Yours in Christ

Revd Steve osbourne