Well 2006 has come and gone. It was a good year. We hope and pray for an even better 2007. The start of new classes is exciting. I hope that everyone will enjoy the "Visualized Bible Study" class for the next five weeks. We can learn to use this resource the proper way. The knowledge we gain will be useful to us in our personal lives. Also having another tool to share with others.

I look forward to the ladies class starting again. What wonderful opportunity for the ladies to share with each other in the study of God's word. All of you please consider taking a turn at teaching the class. What a blessing it is to be able to share in that way.

The Wednesday Young Adult Bible Study will pick up where it left off. 

Lee is preparing a class for the adults on Sunday mornings. Lee lessons have always been wonderful and I look forward to this series.

Well Ronney has been here a couple of months now. I have not received any complaints. Must be good. We are glad that the Wheelers are here. What a blessing they have been in the short time they have been here. We look forward to seeing how God will continue to use them in HIs service.

THE BIG QUESTION

How will God use you this year? He will use you, if you let Him. Be open to His calling and leading in your life. Watch for open doors. Be willing and be ready. This is the day, week, month, year that the Lord has made. All of us need to be good stewards of the time that God has given us.

Happy New Year and may it be a great one  for you, Gold Canyon, and God.

Bulletin Article from 10-15-06 (Aron)

                                             REFLECTIONS

2 Corinthians 3:17-18

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

Paul certainly wrote some beautiful word pictures when he wrote those words.... freedom wherever the Spirit of the Lord is........unveiled faces all reflecting the glory of the Lord......... being transformed into the likeness of Christ.

These words are words that it would be good for all of us to study and ponder and then ask ourselves some questions. Questions such as , Am I truly free and joyful in the Lord or am I held back by tradition and legalism? Is my face truly unveiled and does it reflect the glory of the Lord? Am I being transformed daily into the likeness of Christ?

Our very humanness will almost guarantee that if we are brutally honest with ourselves, the answers to those questions are “yes” sometimes and “no” sometimes.

If I do things over and over without a thought as to why I am doing them, I am tied to tradition.. If I try to bend people to my spiritual will, I am a legalist by any stretch of the imagination. If I am speaking words of hurt, contempt, or anger, I am not reflecting the glory of the Lord. If I am ignoring the needs that I see in a hurting humanity, I am not being transformed into the likeness of Christ.

On the other hand ,if I study, pray, and am open to the leadership of the Spirit I am truly free. If I am a good listener and can put myself in the place of  another, I am free to share the love that is the Lord. If I am speaking words of encouragement, hope, and love, I am speaking the words of the Lord and glorifying His name. If I see a need and fill it, unconditionally, I am walking in the footsteps of the Lord.

The perfection that is the Lord is indescribable but as we journey toward eternity, the words we say, the acts we do, the love we show, the joy that we spread, and the hope that is ours are what the Spirit uses to transform us into the image of Christ.