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The Gifts Of The Spirit
Revival and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are inseparable, you cannot have one without the other. Pastor Mirek Hufton opened this foundational teaching by declaring that the nine gifts of the Spirit, released at Pentecost in Acts 2:4, are not optional extras reserved for ministers. They belong to every believer and exist for one purpose: to bless other people. Pastor Hufton shared how evangelist Norval Hayes would use the word of knowledge to stop strangers mid-conversation, revealing personal details only God could know, and watch skeptics instantly become seekers. That, he explained, is the gifts working outside the four walls of the church, exactly where they belong. The practical starting point? Pray in the Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues sensitizes your spirit, quiets your mind, and opens the door to all nine gifts. Pastor Hufton challenged every believer to begin there, building their vessel, expecting God to move, and stepping out in faith. The gifts of God are not a spectator sport, they flow through you.
Related Sermons
Small Group Guide
Small Group Discussion Guide
"The Gifts of the Spirit" — Pastor Mirek Hufton
1. SERMON RECAP
In this message, I challenged us to stop being ignorant of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and to understand that they are not just for pastors or ministers — they are for every single believer. The nine gifts of the Spirit are weapons God has given us to bless other people, and they flow best through a yielded, praying vessel. I made it clear that praying in the Holy Ghost is the bedrock that sensitizes our spirit and opens us up to flowing in all the gifts.
2. KEY SCRIPTURE
1 Corinthians 12:7 (NKJV) "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all."
3. ICE BREAKER
Have you ever experienced a moment — maybe a gut feeling, an unexpected word from someone, or a surprising answer to prayer — where you thought, "That had to be God"? Share what happened!
4. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Getting Honest About Ignorance I said the church has been "really remiss" when it comes to teaching the gifts of the Spirit. Before hearing this message, how much did you actually know about the nine gifts? What shaped your understanding — or lack of it — growing up?
2. "Every Man" — That Means You I kept coming back to the phrase "every man" from 1 Corinthians 12:11 — that the Spirit distributes gifts to each one individually. Does it feel natural or uncomfortable to think of yourself as someone God wants to use in the gifts? What makes it feel that way?
3. Gifts Are for Blessing Others I said the gifts are not about strutting around or showing off — they exist to bless people. Can you think of a real-life situation this past week — at work, at school, in your neighbourhood — where a word of knowledge, a word of wisdom, or even a simple Spirit-led word of encouragement could have made a difference for someone?
4. The Vessel Matters I talked about how the cleaner and more yielded our vessel is, the more freely the gifts can flow. What do you think "keeping your vessel clean" looks like in practical, everyday terms — not in a legalistic way, but in a genuine, heart-level way?
5. Praying in the Holy Ghost as the Starting Point I said that praying in the Holy Ghost is the bedrock — the ground-level entry point into the gifts. For those of you who pray in tongues, how intentional and consistent is that in your daily life? For those who don't yet, what questions or hesitations do you have about it?
6. Decent and in Order I was pretty direct about the fact that the gifts need to operate with wisdom, accountability, and order — and that abuse or weirdness has caused a lot of people to pull back from the gifts altogether. How do we create a culture in our small group and in our church where people feel both free to step out and safe from flakiness? What does healthy look like to you?
5. APPLICATION CHALLENGE
This week, set aside 10 minutes each day specifically to pray in the Holy Spirit — not as part of your general prayer time, but as a dedicated, focused block. As you do, ask God out loud: "Holy Spirit, I want to be used in your gifts. Show me one person this week I can bless." Then stay alert. If you sense something — a word, an impression, a nudge to pray for someone — act on it and write down what happened. Bring your notes back to share with the group next week.
6. PRAYER POINTS
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Pray for hunger: Ask God to stir up a genuine desire in every group member to pursue the gifts — not for show, but out of love for people and passion for Jesus.
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Pray for clean vessels: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything in each person's heart or life that might be blocking the flow of His gifts, and ask for the grace to yield those areas to God.
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Pray for boldness to step out: Ask God to give the group specific opportunities this week to be used in a gift — and the courage to act when the moment comes, rather than talking themselves out of it.
7. MEMORY VERSE
1 Corinthians 14:1 (NKJV) "Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts."
Leader's Note: Your job this week isn't to have all the answers about the gifts — it's to create a safe space where people can be honest about where they are and excited about where God is taking them. Let the conversation breathe. The Holy Spirit is welcome here!
Daily Devotional
You Were Never Meant to Be Ignorant
1 Corinthians 12:1 — "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant."
I want to be honest with you — I've seen too many believers sitting on gifts they don't even know they carry. God didn't hide the gifts from us. We've hidden ourselves from the gifts. Paul's letter wasn't written to a Bible school. It was written to ordinary, sometimes messy, Spirit-filled people just like you and me. And his message is clear: don't be ignorant. Ignorance isn't a permanent condition — it's a starting point. You break it through teaching, through hunger, through leaning into what the Holy Spirit wants to do in your life. Today I'm asking you to open your heart and say, "God, show me what I don't know yet." The gifts aren't for someone more qualified. They're for every single believer. They're for you. Let that truth settle deep inside you today.
Holy Spirit, forgive me for the times I've stayed ignorant when You were ready to teach me. Open my heart and my mind to everything You want to show me about the gifts You've placed inside me. I'm ready to learn.
Every Man — Including You
1 Corinthians 12:11 — "But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills."
I love the King James rendering of this verse — "every man." Not every pastor. Not every prophet. Every man. Every woman. Every believer sitting in the back row wondering if God could ever use someone like them. I want to look you in the eyes right now and tell you — yes, He can. Yes, He will. The Holy Spirit doesn't distribute gifts based on your résumé or your past. He distributes them as He wills, and His will includes you. You are not an afterthought in the Kingdom of God. You are a vessel He wants to fill and flow through. The gifts aren't a reward for spiritual maturity — they're tools placed in ordinary hands by an extraordinary God. Start believing today that "every man" means you. Because it absolutely does.
Father, I receive the truth that Your gifts are for me too. Help me stop disqualifying myself before You even get a chance to use me. I open my hands and my heart — fill me and flow through me today.
Build Yourself Up First
1 Corinthians 14:18 — "I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all."
Paul wasn't boasting — he was pointing to a secret. Praying in the Spirit isn't a small thing or a beginner's exercise you graduate from. It's the bedrock. It's the foundation everything else gets built on. When I pray in the Holy Ghost, something happens on the inside of me that I can't manufacture on my own. My mind gets quiet. My spirit gets sensitive. The static gets turned down and God's frequency gets turned up. The more I pray in the Spirit, the more the gifts flow. It's not complicated — it's connection. You build yourself up so you can pour yourself out. You strengthen your inner man so you can bring strength to others. Don't treat the gift of tongues as a footnote in your faith. It's the doorway that opens everything else. Use it. Develop it. Lean into it every single day.
Holy Spirit, I don't want to take for granted what You've placed inside me. Teach me to pray in the Spirit with intention and consistency. Build me up from the inside so I can be a blessing to everyone around me.
The Gifts Are for Other People
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 learned that completely reframes the gifts — they're not primarily about you. The moment God blesses you, He intends to make you a blessing. The gifts of the Spirit aren't trophies to display or tools to build your personal reputation. They're weapons of love aimed at hurting, confused, broken people who desperately need what God has placed inside you. A word of knowledge for your coworker. A gift of healing for your neighbor. A prophetic word for a friend who's losing hope. The gifts were always meant to travel outside the four walls of the church and land right in the middle of someone's ordinary Tuesday. When you understand that the gifts are fundamentally about other people, everything shifts. You stop being nervous about looking foolish and start being burdened for the person in front of you. That's the heart of it.
Jesus, shift my perspective on the gifts from self-focused to others-focused. Give me eyes to see the people around me the way You see them — and the courage to let Your Spirit move through me to reach them.
Step Out and Let It Flow
1 Corinthians 14:1 — "Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy."
I want to close our week with this — stop waiting until you feel perfectly ready. You step out in the gifts the same way you stepped out in faith to follow Jesus in the first place. You begin with a word. Just one word. A picture. A prompting. A nudging on the inside that you've been talking yourself out of for too long. I've watched people in prayer meetings who had never once given a prophetic word suddenly open their mouths and completely read someone's mail. Not because they had it all figured out — but because they finally said yes. Your head will fight your spirit. That's normal. But press through it. Keep your vessel clean, keep praying in the Holy Ghost, keep your heart full of love for people, and then simply begin. God will meet you right there in the middle of your starting step. He always does.
Holy Spirit, I'm done waiting for perfect conditions. I say yes to You today — yes to the gifts, yes to stepping out, yes to being used. Meet me in my starting step and take it from there.