Dr. Ryken's Comments on the Capital Campaign

“Do not be anxious about anything,” the Scripture says, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6).

Throughout the capital campaign for Tenth Church —This People, This Place, at This Time—we have sought to maintain this attitude of prayer, trusting God to provide for the needs of his people, while at the same time giving him praise for all his blessings.


The campaign began just two years ago, which means that this spring marks the end of our original giving period.  Do you know what God has done?  There are so many reasons to give him praise:

• Praise God for the Koop Memorial Organ, an exceptional instrument that we use in the worship of God every week.

• Praise God for the Los Olivos Community Center in Barranquilla, Colombia, where orphans are educated for Christ.

• Praise God for the minority ethnic church plants that have been supported in West Philadelphia, North Philadelphia, and the Northeast, spreading the gospel in African-American neighborhoods, among Chinese and Albanian immigrants, and in other communities.

• Praise God for our new bathrooms in the Catacombs—a necessary improvement and longstanding need.

• Praise God for the church building that is going up for our ministry partners in the Middle East—the only dedicated church building in one of the world’s largest Muslim cities.

• Praise God for our new sanctuary flooring, which will be dedicated next week, and is constructed to last for many generations.

• Praise God for the new church plant in South Philadelphia, under the leadership of Jonathan Olsen.  God has blessed our plans for a daughter church beyond expectation, and we look forward to commissioning the team members on May 2.

• Praise God for the news we received in the last week or two that the total cost for the elevator project will be right on budget. 

• Praise God for the funds we have received to date: more than $3.6 million, with cash on hand to complete all the projects scheduled for 2010.  Praise God also for this, that when we take that giving total and add to it the pledges that are still outstanding, we are at 99% of our total campaign goal of $4.4 million.

This is all God’s work, not our own, and we praise him that he has led us to take this spiritual journey at a time of financial difficulty, in a way that has strengthened our faith. 

This morning, as I encourage you in thanksgiving, I also ask for your continued prayers, which are urgently needed.  Here are some requests to make known God:

• Pray for the new church plant, which the devil will fight with all his power.

• Pray for the elevator project, scheduled to begin shortly after the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology.  If you saw the presentation at last month’s Vision Night, you know that constructing an elevator to reach every major area of our buildings will bring major disruption to our nurseries, our adult Bible school, and the work of our church staff in the Delancey Building.  Pray for God’s blessing through these difficulties, and for the timely completion of the project by late summer or early fall. 

• Pray for the completion of funding for the church building in the Middle East.  God is at work in that congregation, which had record attendance on Easter Sunday.  We are moving forward in faith, and getting close to the final amount we need to finish the work and gain a certificate for occupancy.  But we have not yet reached the goal.  Our brothers and sisters are fasting and praying every Tuesday until the work is done.  Will you join them in prayer?

• Finally, pray for God to provide everything we need.  It remains my hope that we will exceed our original goal of $4.4 million, and that we will have these gifts and pledges in hand by the time I preach my last regular sermon here in June. 

Please pray accordingly, praising God for what he has done already, and praying about whatever he is still calling each of us to do.

When the Scripture tells us not to be anxious about anything, but to bring our prayers, our supplications, and our requests to God—with thanksgiving—it begins with a promise.  It is a promise I want to encourage us to claim this morning.  I wonder if you have ever noticed it. 

The promise comes at the end of the previous verse, but it really sets the context for what the Bible says about prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.  The promise is simply this: “The Lord is near” (Phil. 4:5).  By the presence of his Spirit, the Lord Jesus is near to us.  He is with us to receive our praise.  He is also with us to hear our prayer and help us with everything we need.  Do not doubt, but always remember: the Lord is near!