Before Sunday’s Doors Open

You cannot shepherd well publicly if you are not grounded well privately.

Sunday preparation must start with the soul, not just the sermon. You need to be prepared more than the content does. I learned that lesson the hard way one Sunday while referencing Psalm 100 in a sermon. The text is familiar: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.” The emphasis is important. We are not told to start with thanksgiving once we arrive. We are told to enter with it. Gratitude is meant to be carried in, not conjured up on the spot.

As I was explaining that to the congregation, encouraging them to spend time with the Lord before gathering so their hearts would be ready to receive, it dawned on me that I had not done the very thing I was teaching. I had prepared the message, but not myself. I had studied the text, but I had not slowed down long enough to let it study me.

That is the danger of ministry. It is possible to teach truths you have not inhabited. It is possible to speak accurately about God while neglecting to walk attentively with Him.

Psalm 100:4 reminds us that thanksgiving is not something we should try to manufacture in the opening song. It is the byproduct of a heart already oriented toward God. That kind of heart does not develop accidentally. It must be cultivated intentionally.

Spiritual Prep for the Church Staff

For that reason, spiritual preparation on Sunday morning should begin with meditating on Scripture that has nothing to do with your sermon, lesson, or responsibilities. Read something simply to be with God. Let the Word shape you before you attempt to shape anyone else. 

Prayer should follow the same pattern. Begin with prayer that centers the heart, not just rehearses responsibilities. Only then should you move toward praying through your schedule, your roles, and the people you will encounter that day. Intercede for them before you ever see their faces. Have a rotating list of staff members, volunteer leaders, and church members that you pray for each and every Sunday. You are acknowledging that any good that happens that day will come from the strength that the Spirit provides. The real work starts here.

A phrase I return to often is this: I need to be good with Him before I’m good for them.

When that order is reversed, ministry becomes shallow very quickly. Before ever telling people to get right with Jesus, I need to do that.

Working for the Lord ≠ Knowing the Lord

Scripture offers a sobering warning here in the life of Samuel. First Samuel 3 opens by telling us that “the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli.” That sounds commendable until we read a few verses later: “Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him” (1 Sam. 3:7).

That line is devastating when read carefully. Samuel was working for the Lord before he knew the Lord.

From a young age, Samuel was immersed in religious activity. After his miraculous birth, his mother kept her vow to give him back to God. If she was granted a child, God would raise him. So Samuel grew up in the temple, learning the rhythms of worship and service under Eli’s supervision. He was busy. He was faithful. He was ministering. And yet, he did not know the Lord.

He was religiously active but relationally dry. He was involved in the work of ministry without fully understanding the point of the ministry. The Word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him, and therefore he did not yet know the God of the Word.

That pattern is tragically easy to repeat. Whether you lead as a pastor, staff member, ministry volunteer, or lay leader, the warning stands: do not settle for activity before nurturing intimacy. Ministry done for God without regularly being with God eventually hollows out the soul. 

You can’t really introduce someone to Jesus if you don’t know Him that well yourself.

Other Essential Preparations

Spiritual preparation sets the tone, but it must be paired with mental preparation as well. When you prepare well, people stop feeling like interruptions. If I arrive on campus still scrambling for content, clarity, or confidence, frustration will inevitably spill over onto the people I am called to shepherd. Prepared leaders are patient leaders. The goal is readiness, not rigidity. Be ready to serve by the time you arrive, not still assembling yourself in the hallway.

Practical preparation also plays a role, even if it feels less spiritual. Clothing, technology, materials, and logistics are not the most important aspects of the day, but what you fail to prepare for practically can drain you mentally and affect you spiritually. Forgotten details have a way of stealing emotional energy that should have been reserved for people.

It is worth asking yourself a few honest questions. What are the things you routinely forget? What do you tend to overlook? What consistently gets you into trouble? Identify them. Acknowledge them. Then create a simple plan to work against your deficiencies so you can keep the main thing the main thing.

Do You Arrive Ready?

Shepherding begins long before the first song is sung. It begins when the leader chooses to ground their soul, steady their mind, and remove unnecessary distractions. Before Sunday’s doors open, the shepherd must be prepared, not just to lead a service, but to love people well.

Ministry does not begin when the service starts; it begins with the quiet choices made long before anyone arrives. If a leader prepares the content but neglects the soul, Sunday may be busy, but it will not be successful.