idolatry – IGW3 – In God's Word, In God's Will, In God's Work

Audio Sermon for August 23, 2020 – “A Most Important Question”

Money, Money, Money

I can hear the music used for the theme song to the once hugely popular TV show “The Apprentice,” can’t you? The part where the singers sing gleefully, “Money, money, mooooooneeey!” I can see the stereotypical old miser too, hunched over his desk, almost drooling over his little stacks of gold coins. I can see… Continue reading Money, Money, Money

The Great Gulf

If you ask me, it is one of the most disturbing stories Jesus ever told. (You find it in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 16:19-31.) It tells of a rich man who, during his earthly life, was greedy and unhelpful to a poor man named Lazarus who simply wanted a few crumbs from the rich… Continue reading The Great Gulf

That Which Defiles – Mark 7:1-13

7 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When… Continue reading That Which Defiles – Mark 7:1-13

Give it all to God

“When the people saw Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, ‘Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us out of Egypt, we don’t know what happened to him.’ “ Exodus 32:1 We all know the problem… Continue reading Give it all to God

Paul Simrell

The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. Elpis is the Greek word meaning “expectant hope.” He also serves on the associate clinical staff of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, Richmond, Virginia, both as a pastoral counselor and a ministerial assessment specialist, specializing in executive, clergy and relationship coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program. Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

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