2016 Regular Session Begins Today

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin’s final State of the State Address on Wednesday evening, January 13 officially kicks off the 2016 regular session of the West Virginia legislature. It is an inspiring event as both legislative bodies gather along with all the executive branch officials and the Supreme Court justices. The galleries in the House of Delegates chamber are always packed. It is quite impressive to watch as leaders file into the stately room, prepared to hear the governor’s speech.

Every time I sit and watch this event, I am overwhelmed by the opportunity to share the gospel and minster to these leaders. God has once again given us an open door to serve and minister at the statehouse during the sixty day session.

This promises to be a hectic and difficult regular session. Our state’s budget problems will prove to be challenging. Several other contentious issues face our leaders as well. Add that to the nearly always combative nature of politics and the regular session can be a difficult time. The Bible encourages us when we face troublesome times to “fix our eyes on Jesus” and consider all He has done for us (Hebrews 12:2-3). We hope our Bible studies during the regular session will help our leaders take time to focus on Christ and find encouragement in considering all He has done for them.

For this reason our Bible studies during the 2016 regular session will focus on what we learn about Jesus from His “I Am” statements in the Gospel of John. Eight times in John Jesus proclaims an “I am…” statement describing Who He is and what He has done for us such as “I am the light of the world…” (8:12) and “I am the Good Shepherd…” (10:11). I believe this will be an encouraging and challenging series for our meetings this year. Our Bible studies begin on Thursday, January 14. You can find a copy of our first Bible study here.

Please be in prayer for our leaders and for our ministry to them during next sixty days.

• Pray we will have opportunities to share Christ with those who do not know Him.

• Pray for believing leaders who face difficult and challenging times during the session.

• Pray for our Bible studies as the notes are distributed throughout the statehouse each week.