Hey guys,

I'm so encouraged by your sharing Elza, and your sharing Ken. How aware you guys are that this life is a pursuit of God, that's all that really matters. We talk about undivided heart, and this is how we strive for it week after week. Not on sundays, but during the week, intentionally bringing our thoughts back to God. Beautiful what you guys wrote! Yeah there are times we neglect or forget, but when we realise the state of our heart, we take it to the Lord in prayer.

Elza hope your SS will be fine tmr! I'll pray for you!

Love your last line also, "you guys will always be there to spur one another on in love." YES, that's what OAK shall be, and I can see that happening!


Just wanna share something that touched me a lot, deborah I hope you don't mind! As you all know, I shared 2 sermons in JYM recently, one on the Sparrows, and the other on Life is Temporary. I found it very hard to prepare the Sparrows one, cos I had a few points but couldn't link them properly. So I kept thinking but after a while it became tiring just thinking about it. Some nights I even tossed in bed, just thinking and feeling uncomfortable about it, haha. And the night before, I wanted to sleep early but couldn't, and got up and made last minute changes to my slides. And became kinda tired just thinking about my sermon! So when JYM time came, I felt too mentally drained to share, haha, so I prayed and asked God to really take care of the sermon. And I had the confidence he would. But then, as I was sharing, I felt it wasn't coming out as well as I wanted it to. When I finished the sermon, I felt kinda relieved and just wanted to collapse on the floor and sleep. Haha. But I also somehow felt I didn't present properly, didn't do a good job as I wanted. Somehow, I don't know exactly why I felt bad, maybe just really tired. So I was feeling drained and quite down. I was thinking, 'I thought God was going to help me'. But I also remembered what I said in my own sermon 'Even there, He is holding me'. But I felt drained and quite down.

Then the next day, Monday, I logged onto my email and saw that Debbie had sent me an email!! I was curious what's inside. And when I opened it, it was an encouragement about the sermon! That it was great and taught her a lot. (Haha deb hope you're not embarrassed but I'm so touched I can't help it) I took it as a God-sent encouragement. It really made my day. And I remembered the prayer I prayed before giving my sermon, and felt that hey God answered my prayer! Just not in the way I expected. And indeed He was holding me throughout the sermon. Cos for me I'm so glad if my sermon helps just someone, that'll make the effort all worthwhile. So I really thanked God and said to myself God is indeed faithful.


Remember I shared quite some time back, that when I'm sharing in front of JYM, it's you guys oakers sitting there who give me the confidence. Cos I know you guys love me, hahaha, and I'm don't always feel confident speaking in front of those in JYM whom I might not know very well. (confessions of a chairman)

Deborah showed me what cell group support is like. I thought I was the one supposed to be there for you guys, but you guys became the ones who were there for me. In my mind there's no cell mentor, cell leader, it's just a bunch of friends who love God and care for each other! So don't despise the little encouragements we give to one another, or the little humble sharings about yourself, or the way you just openly share your struggles. These things make the group beautiful. That's what the group is meant to be.


Ryan


Ps. Don't forget to take time out to pray again tonight. :) Come home to the Lord.
You can even use the time to meditate on the lyrics Elza nicely put up for us.