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Moving In The Gifts Of The Holy Spirit
With revival on the horizon, Pastor Mirek Hufton delivered a passionate call for the church to move beyond spiritual ignorance and actively pursue the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 14:1, "Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts", he reminded the congregation that these nine gifts are supernatural, Spirit-distributed, and given for one purpose: the profit of all. Pastor Hufton recalled the powerful Jesus Movement of the 1970s, where young people gathered by the thousands, the gifts flowed freely, and entire ministries were birthed. Neighbors once called the fire department, convinced a building was ablaze, only to discover it was the supernatural fire of the Holy Spirit. His challenge was clear: prayer in the Holy Spirit is the foundation for operating in the gifts. Humility, love, and sensitivity to the anointing, not personality or performance, are what allow God to move through surrendered vessels. The gifts of God are not about us. They are about lifting up Jesus and setting people free.
Related Sermons
Small Group Guide
Small Group Discussion Guide
"Moving In The Gifts Of The Holy Spirit"
Based on the teaching by Pastor Mirek Hufton
1. SERMON RECAP
In this message, I shared my heart about the urgent need for the body of Christ to move back into the gifts of the Holy Spirit — not as a religious exercise, but as a supernatural expression of God's love for hurting people. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, I walked us through the nine gifts of the Spirit, reminding us that these gifts are not about us — they flow through us by the Holy Spirit for the benefit and blessing of others. As we step into revival and a new move of God, I believe every one of us is called to stir up these gifts, pray in the Spirit, and allow God to use us supernaturally right where we are.
2. KEY SCRIPTURES
1 Corinthians 14:1 (NKJV) "Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy."
1 Corinthians 12:7 (NKJV) "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all."
3. ICE BREAKER
Start here — keep it light and fun!
"Has God ever given you a strong sense or impression about something — a person, a situation, a decision — that later turned out to be exactly right? Tell us about it!"
(Leader note: Don't worry if people call it a "gut feeling" or "just knowing something." That's perfectly fine — part of tonight's conversation is recognizing that God may already be working through us in ways we haven't labeled yet!)
4. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Question 1 — Opening Up the Topic In the message, I said that a lot of us are already operating in gifts of the Spirit but have never labeled them as such. Does that idea surprise you, encourage you, or maybe even make you a little nervous? Why?
Question 2 — Getting Into Scripture Read 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 together as a group. I pointed out that the gifts are described as "diversities" — meaning they don't all look the same, and God uses our unique personalities and backgrounds as He flows through us. What does that tell us about how God sees each of us individually? How does that change the way you think about whether you could ever be used in a gift of the Spirit?
Question 3 — Going a Little Deeper I talked about the purpose of the gifts — that they are always meant for "the profit of all" — for edification, exhortation, and comfort. Think about a time when a word of encouragement, a timely phone call, or someone's prayer came at exactly the right moment in your life. Looking back, could that have been a gift of the Spirit at work? What did it mean to you?
Question 4 — Honest Conversation I was pretty transparent about the fact that gifts can sometimes be misused — people can miss it, go too long, or even speak from their flesh rather than the Spirit. Has a negative experience with the gifts — either personally or something you've witnessed — ever caused you to pull back from being open to them? How do we stay open to the genuine without becoming afraid of the counterfeit?
Question 5 — Prayer and the Gifts I made a strong connection between praying in the Holy Spirit and the gifts beginning to flow. I said, "I don't know of a better way to get these gifts to flow through you than getting over in the Spirit and becoming a person of prayer in the Holy Ghost." How would you honestly describe your current prayer life? What is one thing that gets in the way of you pressing deeper into prayer?
Question 6 — Personal Application Read 1 Corinthians 14:1 again: "Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts." The word pursue means to actively chase after something — it's not passive. What would it look like practically for YOU to pursue love AND desire the gifts this week? What is one step you could take?
5. APPLICATION CHALLENGE
One specific, achievable action for this week:
This week, set aside 10–15 minutes each day to pray in the Holy Spirit — and then pause in silence for 2–3 minutes and pay attention to any impression, picture, scripture, or sense of burden you receive. Write it down in a notebook or on your phone. At the end of the week, look back at your notes and ask yourself: "Did God show me something about a person or situation I could pray for or reach out to?" Then act on it — send a text, make a call, or pray specifically for what you received.
(Leader note: Encourage your group to share what happened the following week. This builds faith when people see God moving even in small ways!)
6. PRAYER POINTS
Close your group time by praying together over these specific items:
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Pray for our upcoming revival meetings — that the Spirit of God would move powerfully, that the gifts would flow freely, and that people would be saved, healed, and set free. Ask God to prepare every heart in our church to receive and respond.
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Pray for a hunger for prayer — ask God to stir up a genuine desire in each group member to press deeper into praying in the Spirit, and that through that prayer, the gifts of God would begin to bubble up and flow in their daily lives.
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Pray for boldness without pride — ask God to give each person the humility to be a clean, open vessel, and the courage to step out in faith when the Holy Spirit prompts them — whether at church, at work, in the grocery store, or with family.
7. MEMORY VERSE
1 Corinthians 14:1 (NKJV) "Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy."
Write it on a sticky note. Put it on your bathroom mirror. Say it out loud every morning this week.
Leader, thank you for investing in your group. You are doing kingdom work. — Pastor Mirek
Daily Devotional
Pursue Love, Desire the Gifts
1 Corinthians 14:1 — "Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy."
I want to be honest with you — pursuing love isn't passive. It means aiming at it, focusing on it, and getting to getting. God Himself wrote through Paul that He wants us to *desire* spiritual gifts. That word desire means hunger, longing, active reaching. He wouldn't tell us to desire something He never intended us to have. I've watched people shrink back from the gifts because they were afraid of making mistakes, afraid of looking foolish. But I believe the greater mistake is sitting on what God placed inside you. These gifts aren't trophies to display — they flow from a heart motivated by love for the person standing right in front of you. When love drives you, the gifts find their purpose. Start there. Start with love, and let everything else flow from that place.
Father, stir up a genuine hunger in me for Your spiritual gifts today. Let love be the engine that drives everything I do. Help me stop holding back what You placed inside me.
Don't Be Ignorant — These Gifts Are Supernatural
1 Corinthians 12:1 — "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant."
When God says He doesn't want us ignorant about spiritual gifts, He means business. Ignorance here isn't just not knowing the names of the nine gifts — it's not understanding where they come from, why they exist, and how they're meant to flow through ordinary people like you and me. These gifts are *spiritual* — supernatural. They don't come from your natural talent, your education, or your personality. They come from God Himself moving through a yielded vessel. I've seen a word of knowledge stop a hardened person cold in their tracks. I've watched healing break through where medicine couldn't reach. None of that was about the vessel — it was about the Spirit. You have nothing on your own, and that's actually the best news. It means all you need to do is stay open, stay humble, and stay available. That's enough for God to work with.
Holy Spirit, I don't want to be ignorant of Your gifts any longer. Open my eyes and my understanding to what You've made available to me. I choose to be a yielded, available vessel today.
Profit for All — Gifts Are Never About You
1 Corinthians 12:7 — "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all."
Here's something I've had to remind myself over and over again — the gifts were never given to make you look good. They were given for the *profit of all.* That phrase changes everything. It means when a word of knowledge rises up in you about someone's situation, it's not so you can feel spiritual. It's so that person gets helped, gets free, gets closer to Jesus. I remember sharing this with my congregation — the gifts of the Spirit blow away every barrier the devil sets up around people. You could walk up to someone, speak something only God could know, and watch every wall they've built come crashing down in seconds. That's not you being impressive. That's love in action through a supernatural God. When you keep that perspective — that it's for *their* profit, not your platform — the gifts flow with incredible purity and power.
Lord, deliver me from any desire to use Your gifts for my own recognition. Let every gift You flow through me today be entirely for the blessing and profit of someone else. Keep me humble and keep me useful.
Pray In The Spirit — It's How The Gifts Get Stirred
1 Corinthians 14:12 — "Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel."
I'll tell you one of the most practical things I know about moving in the gifts — if you want them to flow, you've got to be a person who prays in the Holy Ghost. Praying in the Spirit sensitizes you to what God is saying and doing. It puts you in a place where the supernatural can bubble up. I've been walking these church aisles early in the morning, praying over situations, and just like that — a word of knowledge drops in. Clear as anything. I didn't manufacture it. It came through time spent pressing into the Spirit. The Bible says stir up the gift of God that is in you. Stir it up. That stirring happens in the place of prayer. If you want to excel in the gifts — not for your sake, but for the building up of everyone around you — build your prayer life first. Everything else flows from there.
Holy Spirit, I want to be a person who prays deeply and consistently. Stir up the gifts You've placed inside me as I spend time with You today. Let my prayer life become the foundation for everything supernatural You want to do through me.
Step Over Into It — This Is Your Moment
1 Corinthians 14:1 — "Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy."
I want to close this week by speaking directly to you — this is your moment. We are stepping into a new move of God, and I believe the gifts of the Holy Spirit are going to flow through this generation in ways we've barely imagined. But they won't flow through people who are waiting until they feel perfectly ready. I've told my congregation many times — if you're afraid of making a mistake, you'll never step out. Yes, you might miss it sometimes. That's okay. What's not okay is sitting on what God placed inside you because of fear or pride or the need for everything to be perfect. Love people enough to step out. Pray in the Spirit consistently enough that you're sensitized. And then when you feel that anointing rising — that bubbling forth from your spirit — don't hold it back. This is what the last days look like. This is the church God is building. Step over into it.
Father, I'm stepping over into what You've called me to do. I refuse to let fear or perfectionism hold back what You've placed inside me. Use me this week — Your way, Your timing, Your glory.