January 25 News and Notes

Men's Fellowship Nite: Saturday, February 7th at Skagit Valley Church of Christ. All men who need fellowship and encouragement are invited.

Melissa and Cathi Adams were home sick today and unable to attend services.

From Jeanie Young: "Please pray for Leron Johnson, a friend of our son's. He had two live transplants over a year ago and has never healed completely. He now has pneumonia and is back in the hospital. Please pray for his recovery.

From Karla Williamson: "Please continue to pray for my sister Rhonda and her pregnancy that all would be well with the baby. Also praise that my dad's health is improved and he and my mom are planning to visit us in May."

From Lydia Williamson: "Pray for the home school moms and dads."

From Judy Hill: "Please continue to pray for Evelyn Hill as she is at home recuperating from her fall. She'd appreciate calls or cards. Also, please pray for Patricia and Brandy."

From Allen Burke: "A lady at work has a son that has a son that has been in a coma for 9 months. Please pray that he comes out of it so he can be with his family again."

Ron Wilkison, son of Jim and Ruth Lake asks for prayers. He had a heart attack in Jacksonville, Florida.

Please pray for Jim Wilkison's cellulitis to heal and for Ruth Lake to be able to deal with her various health issues and challenges.

From Darlene Stuber: "I am very blessed to have three sisters living with me: Miriah, Reanne, and Lulu. Please welcome them."

Second Sunday Fellowship

Remember the potluck meal after services Sunday morning, January 11th. Bring food for your family and a little extra for visitors. We'll put it all together and have a lot of good eating and fine fellowship Sunday.

Social Networking Site For Members of the Church of Christ

For you Facebookers who might be interested in being part of a site made up only of fellow members of the church:

http://www.saintsmeet.com/

Getting to Know Your Bible

I have just discovered that the Getting to Know Your Bible t.v. broadcast (sponsored by the Summerdale, AL Church of Christ) is carried on DirecTV channel 377 -- the TCT network -- weeknights at 7:30 p.m. My good friend Billy Lambert is the regular speaker for this program. Billy is an outstanding preacher. If you happen to be a DirecTV subscriber, be sure to watch or record these broadcasts every time you have the opportunity.

Happy New Year!

It was good to have a guest speaker with us tonight to make a presentation about mission work in the African country of Ghana. The web site link to the work he spoke about is www.gwam.org -- for Ghana West Africa Missions.

Your prayers are requested for Rodney Blunt's dad, Bill, who has been scheduled for open heart surgery on Friday, January 9th in Bellingham.

Remember the New Year's Eve get-together tomorrow night at the Garrison's house, beginning at 6 p.m.

Enjoy New Year's Day on Thursday!

Sunday, December 28th Notes

It was good to have attendance climb back toward normal, although we were still missing several families today.

Thanks to everyone who attended John & Trish's Open House this afternoon.

Remember we meet Tuesday night. Potluck at 6 p.m. with midweek service following at 6:45. We have a guest speaker scheduled to make a presentation about mission work in Ghana.

Prayer Requests from Sunday morning:

From Rodney Blunt: My dad, Bill Blunt, has an appointment with a heart surgeon tomorrow to schedule surgery. His echocardiogram showed three blockages around his heart that will most likely require bypass surgery. Please continue to pray for me niece, Chelsea. She continues to struggle with how best to treat her cancer as well as other family issues.

From Ruth Lake & Jim Wilkison: Our friend Bob Walton has liver cancer and he is taking chemotherapy. He lives in Texas. Please pray for him.

Our God, He Is Alive

Terry Gardner wrote the following biographical sketch of A. W. Dicus, author of the song "Our God, He Is Alive." Since we sing this song frequently, I thought you might enjoy knowing more about the composer.

Aaron Wesley Dicus deserves at least a passing mention on the List. He was born near St. Louis, Missouri (in the small town of Festus) on 30 May 1888. He obeyed the gospel in the fall of 1908. He was extraordinarily well educated for his time. He obtain a B.S. degree from Marion Normal in 1912. He later obtained an A.B., M.A., and Ph.D., from Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana. With this education he became a teacher and he taught in the High Schools of Illinois and Indiana, including teaching seven years at Indianapolis. He then taught science at Indiana University and in 1930 he moved to Cookville, Tennessee where he became a professor of physics and the head of the science department at what was then called the T.P.I. Cookville (Tenn. Tech). In about 1951 Dicus was persuaded by James R. Cope to move to Florida and work at Florida Christian College. This is did for several years until he retired from school work about 1954.

Dicus began preaching work in the summer of 1913. He held his first gospel meeting in 1915. He often spoke at the north Indianapolis congregation where Daniel Sommer was a member. While living in Indiana he filled regular appointments at Cloverdale, Crawfordsville, Traders Point (Indianapolis), Bloomington and Bedford. For two years he did regular work at the Ridgedale congregation (Chattanooga) and at Rossville, Georgia. After moving to Florida he preached for c ongregations in Miami and Winter Haven, Florida.

After his 1954 "retirement" Dicus authored three small books: Sermon Outlines, A Commentary on Hebrews and Romans and Church Leadership. He also wrote about 35 songs. His two best known songs are "Our, God, He Is Alive," and "Lord, I Believe."