Heart For the World Week

May God Give Us His Heart for the World!

2010-06-11T16:58:00.002-05:00

What a week H4W 2010 was!

The folks of FBC have been spending themselves throughout Williamsburg and Paducah—showing the love of Christ and ministering to others.

Check out the many photos from the week by viewing the posts below.

We’ve sought to make a difference in others through our actions, but God is the One who has made the difference in us. Indeed, God is creating a Heart for the World in us! Heart for the World has been a week of intensive efforts, but we realize that Heart for the World is not just a special emphasis to be observed at particular times throughout the year. On the contrary, a heart for the world is something we want to live with on a 24/7 basis—at home, at church, at Walmart, at the baseball field…literally everywhere!

My prayer is that the faith family called First Baptist Church would indeed be a people who live everyday with a heart for the world. I pray that we would be a people who truly live out the words that are emblazoned on the glass doors around the church—“loving God, loving people.”

H4W 2011 will take place at Orphanage Emmanuel in Guaimaca, Honduras—the place where over 50 people served last year.

Again, we will work hard serving the people of the orphanage, and we will worship our great God together. H4W 2011 will take place April 2-8. In days to come you will hear more about how you can get involved.

In the meantime, may God continue to grant us all his Heart for the World—and may that heart be evident in the way we live our everyday lives!

“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your would and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39).

Pastor Todd

Morningside Assisted Living - Singing, Scripture & Children's Cards

2010-06-11T11:12:00.001-05:00

Thursday in Williamsburg

2010-06-10T14:15:00.000-05:00

Today we had two groups working on Jean's house. This morning the men layed laminate wood floors in the bedroom and this afternoon they layed flooring in the kitchen and living room. Things are finally starting to come together! We built a set of bunk beds for Jean and her daughter and men are currently putting in baseboards. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel! A big group of youth and adults are about to head out to set up for the block party. We are planning to have three big inflatables, hot dogs, and hamburgers! God's face has been evident throughout the past four days. We will come home more blessed than the people we were able to serve.

Wednesday Williamsburg Report

2010-06-10T12:44:00.001-05:00

Wednesday morning our 3 groups went out to their designated areas of ministry. The warehouse group continued to work on Jean's house, the mountain house crew finished their project on Vera's house, and the group working in town came close to finishing the Shupe's house. Another group finished putting food boxes together and delivered them across the county. It was a very productful day but there is still a lot to be done!

Yesterday around 3 pm Melanie (the director of the warehouse) called us to the sanctuary to pray. A church bus had been in a wreck and she just knew it had to be the group staying at the warehouse and working alongside us. Upon arrival at the scene, we found out that it was indeed Belmont Baptist Church out of Georgia. The group was returning to the warehouse from mission work at a local middle school when a semi truck hit them on a curvy road. Of the 13 passengers, only two were critically injured--the pastor and his wife. When Cathy Hancock arrived at the scene she said that all the youth were gathered on the side of the road praying and singing praise and worship, lead by the two daughters of the pastor and his wife--what a witness!

Last night Terry and Lois (the pastor and his wife) were airlifted to UK. Terry's legs were crushed and he went into surgery this morning. Lois may have broken her hip and is currently waiting to have surgery.

It was neat to see the churches and community bond together and lift this group up in prayer!

Please pray for Terry and Lois Taphouse and their children! Pray for the kids who are understandably tramautized from this accident.

Paducah Day Nursery - Craft Projects

2010-06-10T11:38:00.000-05:00

Thoughts from Pastor Todd on H4W

2010-06-09T22:18:00.004-05:00

I left our team in Williamsburg today because I had to get back to Paducah. Having 6 hours alone in the car provided plenty of time to think and pray.

With H4W fresh on my mind, I was reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:21—“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

What I treasure shows the direction and location of my heart.

We have been praying this week that God would give us his heart for the world. We have been praying that we would love what he loves and that we would feel what he feels about the people of this world.

Driving home today, I couldn’t help but think about the fact that I pastor a people who are wealthy. Among American standards, the people of FBC Paducah are wealthy. Among world standards, we are all wealthy. I know of no one who is a part of our church who does not have food, clothing, and shelter. Needless to say, we are all rich.

The quickest way to check someone’s heart is to look at their stuff. Walk in anyone’s house, and while you will quickly see stuff, what you really see is a deep reflection of their hearts. Look at the stuff in their lives. Look at how much stuff is in their lives. Listen to the stuff that comes out of their mouths. Look at the stuff they spend their money on.

I want God’s heart. I want to feel the way he does about all things—especially the people of the world.

I also want to be around people who want God’s heart. I want to be around people like I have been around this week—people who take their entire families on mission trips—people who instead of heading to ThrillMeWorld take a week’s vacation to be a part of H4W week—people who are more interested in what God is about than anything else.

It’s great to be a part of a people who want God’s heart. We’ve got friends who are trying to figure out how they can spend less money on themselves so they can participate more in what God is doing. I know of a couple who sacrificially gave a large chunk of change to another couple who is wanting to adopt a child. How great it is to hear the young man talk of how he is not going to upgrade his car just because he can—instead he is choosing to give that money away to someone who is in need.

Only God could lead folks to do things like that and these are the kinds of things that I am seeing among our family of faith.

Driving home today, I had the thought: Heart for the World is not a week—Heart for the World is a lifestyle. May our hearts for the world be seen not just in our feverish participations in multiple projects in Williamsburg or Paducah, or even Honduras or Romania or the Ukraine. Instead, may our hearts for the world be seen in the everyday occurrences of our lives—the way we talk to one another, the way we spend our money, the way we treat our family, the way we pray, the way we treat the poor, and the list goes on and on and on and on.

I’m coming off this week convinced more than ever that H4W is what God is about and that H4W is the way of life God intended for all his followers.

Photos of H4W Paducah Volunteers!

2010-06-09T10:40:00.004-05:00

Community Kitchen Volunteers

Collecting Supplies for Flood Victim

Making Fleece Blankets for "Powerless Care"

Family Services Volunteers

Hope Unlimited Helpers

Tuesday Williamsburg Report

2010-06-09T08:55:00.001-05:00

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Last night, Steve Moore presented us with the opportunity to share a little about the people and places in which we were serving. The group working on the house in the mountain shared that their home owner had just lost her husband a couple of months ago. As the group was working to re-floor her house and install a new staircase, one of the FBC men asked her why she wanted to keep such a big house since she would be living alone. The homeowner responded that she hoped to be able to take in foster teenagers, an age group often neglected in this area of Kentucky.

Back at the warehouse, several of our women put together food baskets which will be delivered today.

Work continued on Jean's house (the woman trying to get back on her feet). All the walls were repaired and painted and hopefully the floors and floorboards will go in today.

Yesterday afternoon was another great day of VBS. Kevin Estes had the opportunity to share the Gospel with the dad of one of the kids. About 10 kids showed up and participated in games, worship, skits, crafts, and Bible study.

Hard at Work at Home in Paducah

2010-06-08T20:57:00.004-05:00

Heart for the World Activity has been witnessed all around Paducah...

Our own FBC clothing closet buzzed with volunteers Monday morning, with the many helpers even serving a family in need during that time. The clothing items sorted and boxed were overstock that will be sent to provide profits for a Ugandan Orphanage... how amazing to truly see hearts working for children not only in Paducah & Eastern Kentucky, but also for little ones halfway around the world. Now that is the blessing of H4W week!!

The Family Service Society welcomed in both the morning and afternoon shifts of volunteers. We were able to sort many boxes of clothing for the clothing closet, and assisted a few customers along the way as well. The many volunteers enabled the staff to complete several tasks... from running to Mayfield to collect goods from Second Harvest for the food pantry to sorting out canned goods and shelving them for much needed food deliveries...to counting and bagging food items for awaiting needs. So many fresh pears were sorted and bagged today!

When we added up the combined forces of Williamsburg and Paducah, we knew over 95 members of First Baptist were hard at work serving others, and thus serving the Lord today!

A big hello and lots of prayers from our workers in Paducah to your mission in Williamsburg!

Monday Williamsburg Report

2010-06-08T08:59:00.002-05:00

Monday, June 7, 2010

Today we divide into 3 groups—one went to a house on the mountain, one to a house in town, and one to the warehouse. The warehouse group got an unexpected project as soon as they got there…completely remodeling a nearby home. The team worked especially hard on this project because it will soon house a mother and her two children who are trying to get back on their feet. The hope is that this house will become a transitional home for people recovering from addictions and abuse.

While this project was going on outside the warehouse, several of our group members were working hard inside the warehouse organizing clothes and furniture and painting ceiling tiles.

In the afternoon, several youth and adults went to an apartment complex here in Williamsburg to do a Vacation Bible School and talk with the parents. What started as 2 kids soon turned to 7. We played kickball, sang songs, did crafts, and handed out toothbrushes. It was a great time of developing relationships! While the youth were with the kids, Brenda Cantwell, Cathy Hancock, and Brenda McElroy went door-to-door handing out bags filled with tea towels, lotion, and Beth Moore's "Believing God". Many women were responsive and told them that they would send their kids to Vacation Bible School the next afternoon and meet with Brenda, Cathy, and Brenda for a time of Bible study.

In the evening we had a time of worship, prayer, and Bible study back at the camp. Dr. Brady encouraged us to seek God's face, as Moses did in Exodus 33, rather than His hand. We hope to focus on the "Who" of our projects rather than the "what".

It was a great first day! We got a lot accomplished but we have a lot more to tackle the next few days!

Sunday Arrival

2010-06-08T08:21:00.000-05:00

Sunday, June 6, 2010

We all arrived safely at Laurel Lake Baptist Camp in Corbin, Kentucky! After dinner we settled in and tossed the football and Frisbee. The camp is beautiful and the weather is perfect. Once Dr. Brady arrived at camp, we had a time of worship and prayer to prepare our hearts for the week ahead. Pray that God gives us confident and compassionate hearts as Dr. Brady preached this morning. Tonight he encouraged us to also pray that we could see these people with God’s eyes and serve them with our hands.

H4W 2010

2010-06-04T11:11:00.005-05:00

I can’t wait to leave on Sunday with over 60 others from our church to be a part of this year’s Heart for the World Week.

Last year, more than 50 of the First Family spent the week at an orphanage in Guiamaca, Honduras ministering to children, laying concrete, painting walls, doing dentistry, and much, much more.

Heart for the World Week is the combination of a mission trip and retreat. This year, we head to Williamsburg, Kentucky to labor together with our brothers and sisters at Friends for Families Ministries. We will be serving, serving, and serving each day as we work on homes, lead children in a Vacation Bible School, distribute food to families, and share the gospel with the community.Each night, our H4W 2010 team will gather after supper for a time of worship. We will sing together, share together, pray together, and seek God together.

The most important word in the phrase “Heart for the World” is “Heart.” We go to Williamsburg this year not just with a desire to change a corner of the world, we go also with a desire for God to do the work of changing our own hearts. We pray that others will come to know the Lord through our witness, but we also pray that our hearts might be burdened more to the point that we have God’s Heart for the World.

Having God’s heart means loving what God loves, hating what God hates, thinking as God thinks, speaking as God would have us speak, and loving others as God wants us to love them. In short, having God’s heart means doing all things as unto Christ.

God does not look on the outward appearance, but on the heart (1 Samuel ). David prayed for God to create a clean heart in him (Psalm 51). The Psalmist stored up God’s Word in his heart (Psalm 119). David also desired for God to search his heart (Psalm 139). We are to trust the Lord with our whole hearts (Proverbs 3). A joyful heart is like good medicine (Proverbs 17:22). Jesus says that the pure in heart are blessed (Matthew 5:8). We know that what we treasure shows the proclivity of our hearts (Matthew 6:21). The mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart (Matthew 12:34). Believers are to “flee youthful passions and purse righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22). The Word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). We are to love one another earnestly from a pure heart (1 Peter 1:22).

Too often those of us who call ourselves Christians are actually perfunctory in our performance, disobedient in our duty, and callous in our commitment. How easy it is to go through the motions while our hearts are completely disengaged. Some church goers do it every Sunday.

As we go to Williamsburg wearing our H4W T-shirts, may Heart for the World not just be a neat name for another trip, but a vivid description of the work that God does among us—giving us His Heart for the World.

Pray for us! Below is the list of the H4W team. May the words of Psalm 67 be our cry—“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that you way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!”

Check out this blog daily to see pictures and read reports of what God is doing among us.

It’s great to pastor a people who want God’s Heart for the World!

Pastor Todd

2010 H4W Team

Perry Vaughn Joyce Vaughn Brian Carter

Sharon Carter Emily Carter Eliza Carter

Benjamin Carter Jerald Ellington Mary Ellington

Brenda McElroy Alli McElroy Roger Stewart

Carol Stewart    Cathy Hancock      Larry Wright
Todd Brady       Jack Brady         Jason Williams
Steve Moore      Cassie Moore       Buddy Griggs
Josh Cornett     Fred Smith         Tommy Tucker
Bryan Stewart    Kevin Estes        Julie Estes
Jaden Estes      Micah Estes        Rachel Nelson
Elizabeth Lester Keith Nelson       Ed Kennerley
Nicki Caturano   Anthony Caturano   Ramona Milles
Collin Milles    Garrett Milles     Mason Milles
Daniel Milles    Marc Spann         Shirley Barlow
Bill Hatcher     Greg English       Connor English
Mariea English   Mason English      Lloyd Housman
Betty Housman    Michael Henderson  Rusty Banks
Jimmy Brooks     Brenda Cantwell    Megan Cantwell
Craig Hook       Andrew Stricklin   Chris Mason
Eliza Clark      Michaela Henderson

NO ONE LIKE OUR GOD

2010-06-03T13:07:00.005-05:00

We sing "God of this City" often at our church. The lyrics are especially appropriate as we anticipate what God will do in and through us. Pray for our church, that we may be the hands and feet of Christ, and declare with our lives, "There is no one like our God!"

1: You're the God of this city, You're the King of these people,

You're the Lord of this nation, You are

You're the Light in this darkness, You're the Hope to the hopeless

You're the Peace to the restless, You are

There is no one like our God, there is no one like our God

Greater things have yet to come,

Greater things are still to be done in this city

Greater things have yet to come,

Greater things are still to be done here

2: You're the Lord of creation, the Creator of all things

You're the King above all kings, You are

You're the strength in this weakness, You're the love to the broken

You're the joy in this sadness, You are

WELCOME

2010-06-03T12:55:00.005-05:00

Welcome to Paducah's First Baptist Church Heart for the World (H4W) Blog! We are eager to see what God has in store for us, both in Paducah and Williamsburg for our annual "Heart for the World Week".