May God Give Us His Heart for the World!

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

Thursday in Williamsburg

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

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

Thoughts from Pastor Todd on H4W

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!

Community Kitchen Volunteers

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Collecting Supplies for Flood Victim

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Making Fleece Blankets for "Powerless Care"

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Family Services Volunteers

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Hope Unlimited Helpers

Tuesday Williamsburg Report

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.