We’ve been exploring some contemporary virtues as summer turned into fall. And this morning we come to confidence.

Confidence is trust, assurance. The word itself comes to us from a Latin word that means “to have full trust. It is similar to faith, in that both confidence and faith suggest a trust in something—in oneself, in another person, in an institution, in God.

It’s said that “Confidence isn’t arrogance; it’s based on a constant awareness of how short life is and how little we ultimately lose from risking everything.” For the religious person, the awareness that life is brief leads to the sense that the life worth living calls us at times to take action with no guarantee other than the love of God. So it has been said that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty.

And..IT'S REFORMATION SUNDAY!

SCRIPTURE LESSONS:       Ezekiel 37:1-14; Ephesians 1:15-23

SERMON:      “Virtues for Vicissitudes: Confidence”

The Rev. William Lovin preaching

ANTHEM:      “Hark! I Hear the Harps Eternal”       arr. Alice Parker