April 19, 2026

WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE

PRELUDE                                        "You Can Make the Pathway Bright"                          arr. Amy Webb

INTROIT                        "Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia!"                               Tanzanian Melody

WELCOME                                                                 Rev. Trip Porch

One: This is the day that the Lord has made

All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

*CALL TO WORSHIP

One: We gather as people who have been found by a God who finds everyone.

All: Even those we have written off. Even those who have hurt us.

One: God calls us by name and sends us to call others by name.

All: To see in every face the image of the one who made us.

         Let us worship the God who makes brothers and sisters of us all.

*HYMN 301                                “Let Us Build a House”                                                   TWO OAKS

*PRAYER OF CONFESSION                                                          Jeremy Carroll

God of open hands, we confess that we are better at naming our enemies than we are at naming our siblings. We have sorted people into those worthy of our compassion and those we have decided are beyond it. We have called our fear discernment, and kept our distance from the doors you were asking us to walk through. Forgive us, and remake us in your image that holds the whole of the world in love . Amen.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

*ASSURANCE OF PARDON

*RESPONSE OF PARDON 240       “Alleluia! Alleluia! Give Thanks”                     ALLELUIA NO. 1

*PASSING OF THE PEACE                                                                  

One:   The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,

All:      And also with you.

WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD

ANTHEM                          "From the End of the Earth”                               Alan Hovhaness

CHILDREN’S MESSAGE                                                                    Dorothy Kyle

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION                                                                 

SCRIPTURE        Acts 9:1-19a   NRVSUE

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest  and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.  

Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  

He asked, “Who are you, Lord?”

The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”  

The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one.  

Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.  For three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank.

 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision,

“Ananias.” He answered,

“Here I am, Lord.”  

The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying,  and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”  

But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem,  and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.”  But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel;  I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”  

So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”   And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized,   and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

SERMON                                                                                Rev. Trip Porch

WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD

*HYMN  662                                    “Christ Whose Glory Fills the Skies”                                                  RATISBON

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE  followed by the Lord’s Prayer using debts and debtors.

TIME OF OFFERING   online giving is available at  www. indianolapres.org/give

OFFERTORY                                             “A Pleasant Thought”                                                         Florence Price 

*OFFERTORY RESPONSE  609        “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow”

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION 

Generous God, we return to you what was always yours. Take these gifts and take us with them. Send us out to the houses on streets we would rather avoid, to the people we have been too afraid to call brother, too guarded to call sister. Use what we offer here to build the community you imagined when you looked at this world and called it good. Amen.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

*HYMN 761                      “Called As Partners in Christ’s Service”                                BEECHER

TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING

CHARGE & BENEDICTION

CHORAL RESPONSE                       "Amen"                                                                 K. Lee Scott

POSTLUDE                              "Called as Partners in Christ’s Service"                                 arr. Lloyd Larson

  Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452