Sunday Bulletin – Knox Presbyterian Church

Sunday, October 18th, 2026
Minister of Word and Sacrament ~ The Rev. Dan West

Prelude Sing to the Lord
(All rights reserved. Used with permission. Lani Smith)

Welcome and Announcements

Responsive Call to Worship
We are known, we are loved.
We may leave our hiding places in faith because there is a God who never destroys us.
The shaking ground of life lies above a firm rock and our feet may walk in hope, for the eternal God holds our hand.
This is our God, the God of every age and place. Praise be to God, Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer.

*Hymn # 321 Praise The Lord, The Almighty
1. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, who rules all creation.
My soul, praise God who alone is your health and salvation.
Come, all who hear,
sisters and brothers draw near,
joining in glad adoration.

2. Praise to the Lord, who in all things so wondrously reigning
hides you with sheltering wings, ever gently sustaining.
Have you not seen
how your heart’s wishes have been
granted through God’s kind ordaining?

3. Praise to the Lord, who will prosper your work, who defends you;
surely God’s merciful goodness here daily attends you;
ponder anew
what the Almighty can do,
when in great love God befriends you.

4. Praise to the Lord, and with all that is in me adoring,
all who have life and breath, come with glad
praises outpouring!
Let the Amen sound from God’s people again:
now and forever adoring!

Prayer of Adoration and Confession

The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven;
give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil
for thine is the kingdom,
and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

*Hymn # 376 Lord, The Light Of Your Love Is Shining
1. Lord, the light of your love is shining
in the midst of the darkness, shining;
Jesus, Light of the World, shine upon us.
Set us free by the truth you now bring us.
Shine on me; shine on me.
Chorus:
Shine, Jesus, shine;
fill this land with the Father’s glory;
blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire.
Flow, river, flow;
flood the nations with grace and mercy;
send forth your word, Lord, and let there be light!

2. Lord, I come to your awesome presence,
from the shadows into your radiance;
by your blood I may enter your brightness.
Search me, try me, consume all my darkness.
Shine on me; shine on me.
Chorus:
Shine, Jesus, shine;
fill this land with the Father’s glory;
blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire.
Flow, river, flow;
flood the nations with grace and mercy;
send forth your word, Lord, and let there be light!

3. As we gaze on your kingly brightness,
so our faces display your likeness,
ever changing from glory to glory:
mirrored here may our lives tell your story.
Shine on me; shine on me.
Chorus:
Shine, Jesus, shine;
fill this land with the Father’s glory;
blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire.
Flow, river, flow;
flood the nations with grace and mercy;
send forth your word, Lord, and let there be light!

Children’s Time

Anthem May the Peoples Praise You
(All rights reserved. Used with permission. Words and Music by: Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty, Stuart Townend, Ed Cash and David Zimmer. CCLI #7063739)

Scripture Readings

Old Testament
Exodus 33:12-23 RSV
12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, thou sayest to me, ‘Bring up this people’; but thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favour in my sight.’ 13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thy sight, show me now thy ways, that I may know thee and find favour in thy sight. Consider too that this nation is thy people.” 14 And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 And he said to him, “If thy presence will not go with me, do not carry us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favour in thy sight, I and thy people? Is it not in thy going with us, so that we are distinct, I and thy people, from all other people that are upon the face of the earth?”

17 And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do; for you have found favour in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18 Moses said, “I pray thee, show me thy glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand upon the rock; 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; 23 then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”

Responsive Psalm 99
1 The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble!
The Lord sits enthroned upon the cherubim;
let the earth quake!
2 The LORD is great in Zion,
exalted over all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Holy is the Lord!

4 Mighty Ruler, lover of justice,
you have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Extol the LORD our God;
worship at God’s footstool.
Holy is the Lord!
6 Moses and Aaron were among God’s priests,
Samuel also was among those who called on God’s name.
They cried to the Lord, and he answered them.
7 The Lord spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
they kept God’s decrees,
and the statutes that God gave them.
8 O LORD our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
9 Extol the LORD our God,
and worship at the holy mountain;
for the LORD our God is holy.

Gospel Reading
Matthew 22:15-22 RSV
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, ‘If any one swears by the altar, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; 21 and he who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it; 22 and he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

Response to the Word of God
Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God for this word to us today.

*Hymn # 381 Holy Spirit, Hear Us
1. Holy Spirit, hear us;
help us while we sing;
breathe into the music
of the praise we bring.

2. Holy Spirit, prompt us
when we bow to pray;
nearer come and teach us
what we ought to say.

3. Holy Spirit, speak now
through this book we read;
on its living pages
shine the light we need.

4. Holy Spirit, give us
Jesus’ heart and mind;
make us as our Teacher:
loving, strong and kind.

5. Holy Spirit, help us
daily by your might,
what is wrong, to conquer,
and to choose the right.

Sermon Permanently Uneasy

Offering

*Doxology In Loving Partnership
In loving partnership we come,
Seeking, O God, your will to do.
Our prayers and actions now receive;
We freely offer them to you.
(All rights reserved. Used with permission. Book of Praise # 759)

Offertory Prayer

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession

*Hymn # 353 Hail, Our Once Rejected Jesus
1. Hail, our once-rejected Jesus!
Hail, our Galilean King!
Once you suffered to release us,
all God’s saving grace to bring.
Faithful servant, holy Saviour,
once you bore our sin and shame;
by your merits we find favour;
life is given through your name.

2. Lamb of God, for us appointed,
all our sin on you was laid;
by Almighty Love anointed,
full atonement you have made.
Now your people are forgiven
through the virtue of your blood;
opened is the fate of heaven;
you are now our peace with God.

3. Jesus, heavenly hosts adore you,
where in glory you abide;
every knee shall bow before you,
reigning at your Father’s side.
There for sinners you are pleading;
there our place you now prepare,
always for us interceding
till in glory we appear.

*Benediction

*Response May The God Of Hope
May the God of hope go with us every day,
Filling all our lives with love and joy and peace.
May the God of justice speed us on our way,
Bringing light and hope to every land and race.
Praying, let us work for peace,
Singing, share our joy with all.
Working for a world that’s new,
Faithful, when we hear Christ’s call.
(All rights reserved. Used with permission. Book of Praise # 726)

Next Week’s Scripture Readings

Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17
Matthew 22:34-46