Centenary Church
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Advent Devotional 2021
The Gospel of Luke

Day 15
Sunday, December 12th
Read Luke 12

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“Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Luke 12:1b (NIV)​

“What a bunch of hypocrites!” At times we hear that criticism directed at Christians today, and that’s exactly what Jesus was saying about the Pharisees more than 2,000 years ago.
​

The Pharisees looked religious on the outside, but on the inside they were corrupt. Jesus was warning His disciples that just as a smidgen of yeast spreads through the entire batch of dough, so the sin of hypocrisy can quickly spread among people.

Jesus’ words of warning are just as applicable today. As believers, we need to guard against appearing “Christian” on the outside while on the inside the attitudes of our heart are anything but. When that begins to happen, it can infect individuals, families and, yes, even churches.

What does hypocrisy look like? To borrow on the popular fast-food chain, it’s when we have an “In-and-Out” life, where there’s a gap between the outside cover of the book – what we say and do – and what’s inside the book – our true beliefs, feelings, motives and such.

Sometimes, those gaps are visible to others – we might profess Christ is Lord but don’t follow Him, we might know God’s commands but don’t obey them, we might talk about His grace and forgiveness of us but refuse to give grace and forgiveness to someone else.  

Other times, those gaps are hidden. But as The Message paraphrases this scripture, “You can’t keep your true self hidden forever; before long you’ll be exposed. You can’t hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known.”

As much as we may hate to admit it, as believers who sin we are by definition hypocrites. But we can guard against that yeast spreading by asking God daily to, in the words of Psalm 51, “create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me.” And when we’re clean on the inside, the outside will follow.            
                                                                                                                                           

Mark Vasche


Prayer focus: Bring God your struggles, tell Him where you have messed up, ask for forgiveness & wisdom on how to continue to follow Him
Community prayer focus: Individuals who are homeless in our community

Favorite Christmas Tradition
Every year since we moved to Modesto in 1988, we attended the 7PM Christmas Eve Service. Once our granddaughter, Liberty arrived in 2011, we switched to the Children’s 5:30 service and she attended with our daughter, Heather and husband, Jeremiah. As Liberty grew old enough to hold her own candle, it was such a blessing to see the expression on her face as she stared at her candle which would illuminate her tiny face. As time went on, our daughter and Jeremiah were able to adopt and add four more children to the family and like Liberty, they were fascinated with the candlelight.         2020 was a unique and sad year for most of us and we wondered how we could keep the candlelight tradition with no Children’s service. We could not meet in person and as we recall, the church had to close for some time.  Since we always meet at our daughter’s home on Christmas Eve, I came up with an idea. Liberty learned to play Silent Night on her piano, the children held battery operated candles, and our daughters, husbands, and us held real candles as we all sang Silent Night.  Even in the midst of a pandemic, we were determined not to let the darkness steal our Light and our joy, which is Christ Jesus. 
Sandra H.
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Centenary Church
1911 Toyon Ave.
Corner of McHenry/Tokay
​Modesto, CA 95350
Church Office: (209) 527-5441
Fax: (209) 527-3230
Email: ​centenary@centenarychurch.net
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  • Home
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    • Membership & Baptism
  • Family Ministry
    • Family Ministry Events
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  • Adult Ministry
    • Jesus and Coffee
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    • Preschool
    • Devotionals >
      • Lent Devotional 2023: The Gospel of Matthew >
        • Day 27 - Promise Keeper
        • Day 26 - Who Am I
        • Day 25 - The Messiah
        • Day 24 - New Thing
        • Day 23 - Abundant Life
        • Day 22 - Have Faith
        • Day 21 - Miracle
        • Day 20 - Courage
        • Day 19 - Share the Love
        • Day 18 - Kingdom of God
        • Day 17 - Choose Him
        • Day 16 - Why Use Parables?
        • Day 15 - Growing
        • Day 14 - Unity
        • Day 13 - Criticism
        • Day 12 Life Change
        • Day 11 A Cup of Cold Water
        • Day 10 Jesus is God
        • Day 9 Good & Faithful
        • Day 8 Good & Faithful
        • Day 7 Lord's Prayer
        • Day 6 Lists
        • Day 5 Beatitudes
        • Day 4 Temptation
        • Day 3 Prepare the Way
        • Day 2 Follow the Star
        • Day 1 Geneology
        • Introduction to Matthew
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      • Lent Daily Devotional >
        • Day 2: Pointing the Way
        • Day 3: Follow Me
        • Day 4: Transform the Ordinary
        • Day 5: Who has Authority?
        • Day 6: God So Loved the World
        • Day 7: Worthy of Worship
        • Day 8: Everyone
        • Day 9: Signs & Wonders
        • Day 10: Rejected & Despised
        • Day 11: Do Nothing On Your Own
        • Day 12: Don't Let Go
        • Day 13: "I Am the Bread of Life"
        • Day 14: Adjusting my Expectations
        • Day 15: Learn by Doing
        • Day 16: God's Anointed Messiah
        • Day 17: We Are All Sinners
        • Day 18: I am the Light of the World
        • Day 19: Jesus is God
        • Day 20: The Work of God
        • Day 21: Hard Hearts
        • Day 22: Abundant Life
        • Day 23: Eternity With Him
        • Day 24: An Ultimate Purpose
        • Day 25: A Purpose Fulfilled
        • Day 26: A Choice to Make
        • Day 27: For This Very Reason
        • Day 28: He Proved His Love For Us
        • Day 29: Secure and One with the Father
        • Day 30: Love One Another
        • Day 31: The Way, the Truth, & the Life
        • Day 32: Order to Our Chaos
        • Day 33: Remaining
        • Day 34: You Are Never Alone
        • Day 35: Never Alone
        • Day 36: In His Will
        • Day 37: What did Jesus Pray For?
        • Day 38: Jesus Prays
        • Day 39: Complete Unity
        • Day 40: Peter's Worst Day
        • Day 41: My Kingdom is Not of this World
        • Day 42: For the Joy Set Before Him
        • Day 43: It is Finished
        • Day 44: You are Loved and Accepted
        • Day 45: Doubting Thomas
        • Day 46: Gone Fishing
        • Day 47: Follow Me
      • Advent Devotional 2021 >
        • Advent - Day 28
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