October 4, 2026
WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE
*indicates stand if you are able
PRELUDE “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehova” arr. Richard Kingsmore
INTROIT “Be Still and Aware of God’s Presence” Sally Ann Morris
Be still and aware of God’s presence within and all around. text: John Philip Newell
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: God is my light and my salvation; of whom should I be afraid?
All: Though violence rises all around me I will not be drawn into fear.
One: One thing I asked of God, that will I seek after:
All: to live in the presence of God all the days of my life, to behold the grace of God.
*HYMN 740 “Lead me, Guide Me” LEAD ME, GUIDE ME
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION Karen Crockett
God of grace, We confess that we often live as though we are on our own. We cling to what is familiar, even when it keeps us from becoming the people you call us to be. We allow fear to make our world smaller. We forget those whose stories are different from ours. We forget that your love reaches beyond our boundaries, our traditions, our languages, and our understanding. We confess the times we have mistaken our own certainty for faithfulness. The times we have seen only obstacles where you were opening a way. The times we have guarded our tables rather than making room.
Silence for personal confession
Forgive us, O God. Teach us to trust your grace. Teach us to walk faithfully into the future you are making. And teach us to recognize your image in every person you place along our path. Amen.
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
*RESPONSE OF PRAISE 659 “Know That God Is Good” MUNGO NI MWEMA
*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 “For the Music of Creation” C. Hubert H. Parry
arr. Jeremy Bankson and Tom Trenny
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Sharon Renkes
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE Exodus 14:5-7, 10-14, 21-29
When Egypt’s king was told that the people had run away, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people. They said, “What have we done, letting Israel go free from their slavery to us?” So he sent for his chariot and took his army with him. He took six hundred elite chariots and all of Egypt’s other chariots with captains on all of them.
As Pharaoh drew closer, the Israelites looked back and saw the Egyptians marching toward them. The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt that you took us away to die in the desert? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt like this? Didn’t we tell you the same thing in Egypt? ‘Leave us alone! Let us work for the Egyptians!’ It would have been better for us to work for the Egyptians than to die in the desert.”
But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand your ground, and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never ever see again. The Lord will fight for you. You just keep still.”
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord pushed the sea back by a strong east wind all night, turning the sea into dry land. The waters were split into two. The Israelites walked into the sea on dry ground. The waters formed a wall for them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians chased them and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and cavalry. As morning approached, the Lord looked down on the Egyptian camp from the column of lightning and cloud and threw the Egyptian camp into a panic. The Lord jammed their chariot wheels so that they wouldn’t turn easily. The Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites, because the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water comes back and covers the Egyptians, their chariots, and their cavalry.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. At daybreak, the sea returned to its normal depth. The Egyptians were driving toward it, and the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the cavalry, Pharaoh’s entire army that had followed them into the sea. Not one of them remained. The Israelites, however, walked on dry ground through the sea. The waters formed a wall for them on their right hand and on their left.
One: Holy Wisdom
All: Holy Word
SERMON Rev. Trip Porch
WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD
*HYMN INSERT “O God, by Your Mercy, We Come to This Place” Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
TIME OF OFFERING online giving is available at www. indianolapres.org/give
OFFERTORY “Amen Siakudumisa” S.C. Molefe
performed by The Santuary Bells arr. Cathy Moklebust
COMMUNION
INVITATION TO THE TABLE
GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
SHARING OF BREAD AND CUP 532 “Una espiga” UNA ESPIGA
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Thank you, God, for feeding us at the same table as our neighbors, out of the same loaf, from hands that were not our own. Now send us out to the people you have put within reach. Let the grace we have received here show up on our streets this week. Amen.
*HYMN 65 “Guide me O thou Great Jehovah” CMW RHONDDA
TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING
CHARGE & BENEDICTION
BENEDICTION RESPONSE “Amen Siakudumisa” S.C. Molefe; text: South African
POSTLUDE “Variations on ‘Holy Manna” arr. John A. Stallsmith
Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452