Sermon Tone Analysis

Made for Monday

Livestream!

Raise your hand if you are exited to go back to work tomorrow!

When I was in college I had several jobs, but the one I disliked the most was working at the school in the computer lab.

When I first started I was excited about it.

My major was in computer science, so I was always excited to work with computers.

They called it the computer lab to sound cool, but it was more of a library of computers.

I knew it would get boring sometimes, but that would be okay because I could catch up on homework if I needed to.

Another thing that was nice was being able to ride my bicycle to work, since I just lived a few blocks away.

My job in the computer lab was to sit and babysit these 40 or so computers, make sure everyone who was there was a student, make sure nobody was going to inappropriate websites, and then kick everyone out and lock the doors at midnight.

I quickly learned that this job was beyond boring.

Every day was like a Monday there.

I could always tell when certain professors were testing because the lab would be packed.

People would always come in right at midnight even though we were about to close.

This was especially no fun the night before my own 7:30 a.m.

test.

Especially if it was on a Monday morning.

Monday’s get a bad rap.

You get the weekend to have fun, relax, and make your own plans.

The weekend always goes by too fast, then Monday crashes the party.

All the work you put off on Friday is waiting on your desk on Monday.

The internet is swimming with Monday memes.

Here is one that I thought accurately describes many people’s Monday morning.

If you feel like this on Monday’s, you are definitely not alone.

I have a few facts for you about Monday.

Productivity at work has been found to be at its all-time low on Mondays.

People are up to 30% less productive and often only manage 3.5 hours of work throughout the day.

Coincidentally, this also happens to be the day of the week when most people do their online shopping.

In 2011, a study showed that the average person moans for 34 minutes on a Monday, compared to 22 minutes on other days.

Even if you maintain a steady weight, Monday is the day of the week you will weigh the most.

On a Monday, almost 50% of employees are late to work.

Many people are more stressed at work on Mondays.

People feel less attractive on a Monday.

If Monday is tough for you, be aware that in 2024 there will be an a total of 53 Mondays in the year.

These last two are pretty sad and unfortunate facts to swallow.

“Heart attack day” also takes place on Monday’s when there is a 20% increase of heart attacks.

Monday is commonly considered “suicide day,” being the day of the week where the most people take their own lives.

Science Journalist and expensive coffee drinker, Dr. Alex Berezow, summarized his research by stating,

“The highest number of suicides occurs on Monday, which makes intuitive sense, since Mondays suck.”

Dr. Alex Berezow, American Coucil on Science and Health

Clearly, Monday is universally regarded as a horrible day.

Today we are starting a new series based on a study by Christ’s Church of the Valley called “Made for Mondays.”

If you are someone who lies down on Sunday nights dreading Monday, my hope is that this series will transform the way you view your work.

That you would realize that you don’t have to dread Monday because God has made you for Monday.

Maybe you don’t dread Monday.

Maybe it is a different day.

That’s okay, this series is for you too.

This series is for you if you love Monday.

If you love your job and enjoy going to work, but you feel like there is a gap between where you are and where you want to be at work.

Even if you don’t have a job that you clock in and out of, this series is for you.

It is about more than Mondays, it is about the work that God has called you to do.

If you are taking notes, lets start with our first thought for today.

If I asked you what you were made for, how would you answer.

What did God make you for?

The weekend?

That’s where I find all of the fun and happiness.

I don’t live to work, I work to live.

I live on the weekends!

But today I want to challenge all of us to realize that…

1. God made you for MONDAY.

Think about the very first Monday.

The very first first day of the week.

The very first sentence in your bible says...

Genesis 1:1 (NLT)

1 In the beginning God created…

On the very first day, God performed all the jobs.

Think about some of the jobs He did when He created.

He was the project manager, an architect, a designer, an artist.

He dreamed up this entire planet and everything in it.

He was an engineer, a builder, the first scientist, a zoologist, a horticulturalist, a musician, a poet, a leader, a manager, and a shepherd.

God went to work, and He did it with excellence!

Can you imagine what everything would be like if God went to work the same way we do sometimes?

If He showed up cranky and half asleep?

That thought makes me glad He didn’t!

The first page of the bible would probably read very different.

It might say...

“Then God said, ‘I’m putting in a request for light.

Let there be light!’

and it took too long, so He moved on to the next thing.

Then God said, ‘While we wait on this light, let’s do something with this water.’”

When He makes it to the land, what if He decided it would be too much work to do all the deserts, forests, waterfalls, and mountains?

So He says, “I’m just going to make everything look like North Texas.”

Now, that’s not a shot at North Texas, but can you imagine the whole world looking like North Texas?

“I’m don’t feel like making all those stars, I think half will do.

Who’s gonna notice?”

What if God made it to the end of each work day and said, “That’ll do.

It’s not perfect, but it’s good enough.

I’ve come up with this huge list of wildlife and it would be really cool, but it will save some time if I shorten the list.”

Imagine if God had decided to just create one bird, one bug, one fish, and one animal.

Like a pigeon, a spider, a catfish, and, as if He already had a head start from the fish, a cat.

He finishes the cat and it immediately catches and eats the pigeon so God says, “Well I’ve had enough for one day.

I’m clocking out!

TGIF, Thank Me it’s Friday!

And, would ya look at that, it’s happy hour!”

Aren’t you so glad that God didn’t do that!

The world would look like a Picasso painting.

I am so glad that God put so much effort into creating something amazing.

And of all the various creations, wonderfully amazing landscapes, and impossible to fathom stars and galaxies in the sky, the pinnacle of His creation was when He created you.

Genesis 1:26 (NLT)

26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us...”