From the time I was a child my dad (a Pastor) drummed it into my head “In everything you do, do it as unto the Lord” – of course now I know that this verse is shown quite a few times in the New Testament but even back in the Old Testament as early on as Cain and Abel, we see where they were to bring the BEST of their first fruits to the Lord. This pattern continues throughout the Bible when we see reference to a lamb or animal offered as a sacrifice that had no blemish. So don’t you think this is the way we should be approaching ministry each week?
Now I am NOT saying that you should quit your ministry job because you’re human and make mistakes. That is NOT the reason for this blog post. BUT what I AM challenging you to do is to bring your BEST each week not only to the congregation but to GOD in preparing worship if you’re the worship leader or in preparing your sermon if you’re the Pastor or in prepping your lesson if you’re a Sunday School teacher, youth leader, woman’s bible study leader, small group leader – whatever ministry you’re involved in. Are you putting your BEST effort forward?
There isn’t a worship leader I know that won’t admit to once or twice flying by the seat of their pants on a Sunday morning for worship . Either the week had been hideously busy or they let other things get in the way. They’ve had to throw a list together in five minutes of what they consider their top “Go To” songs and then cross their fingers it works. BUT if this has become your normal weekly routine of approaching your ministry responsibility- then THERE IS A PROBLEM.
Prepping for your sermon should never be left till Saturday just as prepping for worship should NEVER be left till Saturday night when you FINALLY decide to send a list out to your worship team via text at 9pm or 10pm expecting them to pull music and go over anything they may not know on their own. That is NOT giving your best to God. Your actions in tossing a list to your team that late shows a blatant disregard for excellence as a leader in your own life and it shows a disrespect to them as musicians or vocalists by not giving them proper time to prep for ministry. If you’re a Pastor and you’re handing your powerpoints to your media team on Saturday or worse yet on Sunday morning so that they have to scramble to get them into the service format then I’m going to straight up say SHAME ON YOU! The saying goes, “Procrastination on YOUR part does NOT necessitate and emergency on MY part.” Not to mention you are leaving them under added stress if they’re all ready dealing with sound issues or other media issues that need to be resolved before the service.
Do you hand your materials to your Administrative Secretary on Thursday afternoon expecting her to get everything done for the bulletin by the time she leaves on Friday? BIG NO NO . I’ve been in that position. It’s not fair to wait until you “finally get around to it” and then expect her to scramble to get it done so she can enjoy her weekend.
Now if you’re NOT one of these types I’ve mentioned above then I applaud you because you’re thinking of those who you serve with and you’re also allowing yourself to give your best to God.
If you ARE guilty of these then here’s a few suggestions:
1) As a worship leader, teacher, or even pastor, you should be prepping for your sermons in advance thinking of topics, jotting down illustrations, and most of all BEING IN PRAYER for the service coming up that week.
2) As a worship leader, you need to be handing your team the list of songs in advance so that they can pull them up on youtube or listen to them off a CD or whatever you use. And I’m not talking about 2 days ahead of time either. Take a morning and spend a couple of hours prepping for 4-6 weeks ahead of time. I hold rehearsals every two weeks and cover TWO WEEKS worth of services and intro new songs during that rehearsal. Then on Sunday morning prior to service it’s a quick dry run through. Don’t get in the mindset of “that won’t allow the Holy Spirit to flow” because guess what? If the Holy Spirit is going to flow, He’s smart enough to do it within the confines of our little worship list. Yes you can make a last minute change to a song in the set – just not the WHOLE set.
3) Need to get info for the bulletin to your admin person? Then I suggest letting them prep as much of the bulletin as they can AHEAD of time, hand it to you for approval or additions and then YOU need to get it back to them at least 48 hours prior to when it needs printing OR if you have competent people you know that KNOW what they’re doing, then trust them to get it done and printed each week. If something has been left out decide if it’s really that pertinent and then make an additional announcement about it during the service. Pastors do not need to be administrators if God has given them well equipped staff to handle those things. Trust them to do it. It’s one more thing off your plate that frees you up for more ministry.
4) Powerpoint slides holding you up? Type up what you want on your slides in a basic format and let your admin person or media person be responsible for the slide creation each week. Jot down the main points or even use the “fill in the blank” approach. This saves YOU time and THEM stress.
Approach ministry in EXCELLENCE. Just as you expect your staff or musicians or leaders to give excellence, how much more so should we as Pastors and Worship Leaders/Directors, Youth Leaders etc be expected to do the same? Your worship team, your youth workers, your staff will follow the example YOU set.
I can say I’ve been blessed to work with some Pastors who were on the ball with their powerpoints, their sermon notes, bulletin info, etc. AND on the opposite end of that I’ve worked for those who procrastinated and expected me to stay till 7 or 8 pm on a Friday evening or come in on Saturday morning taking time away from my family. Currently I’ve been blessed to work with a Pastor who is BIG on prepping ahead of time. I am VERY grateful because it frees me up from the stress of having to guess what’s going on each week for worship. We meet monthly and plan things out with still allowing the Holy Spirit to have room to do whatever Holy Spirit pleases. 🙂 So please don’t use the excuse that pre-planning “cramps the Holy Spirit’s style” when it’s really YOUR style you’re worried about and it’s your lack of preparation that needs work. Sorry guys, but you can only throw in so many altar calls in the middle of service to shorten up your preaching time and then people start to catch on. My dad, my uncle and my grandfather spent hours prepping their sermons and in prayer each week while working full time jobs in a secular environment. If you’re full time at your church or even part time, then there’s not much of an excuse for NOT having time to prep. STRUCTURE is one of the keys to successful ministry.
Start giving EXCELLENCE. Prep ahead of time. And WATCH how God honors what you’re doing and how much less stress you feel when it’s time to minister.
From the Inside of Church 