House Fellowship for March 2023

TOPIC: SAYING NO

MEMORY VERSE: “But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil”. Matthew 5:37

BIBLE TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 6:18-20

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

LESSON INTRODUCTION:

Saying no is an act of standing your grounds and not letting people take advantage of you. Bible makes us to understand that we should let our yes be yes and no be no. Matthew 5:37. Sometimes you end up disappointing people because you were not able to say no when you should have. So it is important to learn not to be A yes person all the time. Saying no does not make you less than you are. Sometimes, when we stand our position, it is a plus to our personality and characters.

LESSON OUTLINES:

LESSON OUTLINES ONE: PHOBIA OF SAYING NO

The fear of saying no also stems from the urge to:

Avoid alcohol

Also because we do not want to be confrontational

Because we also do not want to hurt the other person’s feelings

Because we do not want to loose relevance and association

LESSON OUTLINE TWO: HOW TO SAY NO WITHOUT HURTING EITHER OURSELVES OR THE OTHER PARTY

Appreciate them but let them know that you will not be able to honour their request.

Let them know who you are and the choices you have made in your other commitments and would not be able to compromise your position.

Always check with your LORD in prayer before ever saying yes to any request.

Instead of saying yes, tell the other party to give you time to think about it and you give an answer.

LESSON OUTLINE THREE: EXAMPLES OF THOSE THAT REFUSED TO SAY NO

Remember King Jehoshaphat who nearly lost his life when he refused to say no to demonic offer, 1 Kings 22:4-32.

Remember Balaam that received gain of deception for not saying no, Numbers 22.

Gehazi refused to say no to flesh prompting to sin and later got Leprosy, 2 Kings 5:20-27

Esau refused to say no to unquenchable hunger, he lost his birthright, Genesis 25:32

Absalom refused to say no to his ungodly ambition, he died shamefully, 2 Samuel 15:3-6

ACTIVITY:

Assess your life and see what you need to say no to.

SUMMARY:

Unquenchable thirst for mundane things is deadly.

CONCLUSION:

It iste do not make ourselves yes men and women and at the end we are then seen and regarded as unreliable people. It is important to always say no to sin and anything that looks like sin, 1 Thessalonians 5:22, James 4:7.