As I survey the Body of Christ around the world, there are two revelations that I believe are needed in this hour: a biblical understanding of suffering, and a biblical understanding of spiritual fatherhood and sonship.
First, we need to recover God’s perspective on trials, persecution, spiritual warfare, and suffering. Much of the Church has been taught how to escape difficulty, but not how God uses difficulty to mature us, strengthen our faith, produce endurance, and prepare us for what He has called us to carry. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in the midst of real pressure and persecution, strengthening and comforting them with the truth that their suffering was not meaningless. His words gave them perspective, endurance, and hope—and I believe those same words are urgently needed for the Church today.
Second, we need a fresh understanding of spiritual fathers and sons. This language can become unhealthy, controlling, or simply strange in certain environments, but when we look at the relationship between Paul and Timothy, we are given a beautiful picture of what genuine spiritual fatherhood and sonship can look like. Through Paul’s letters to Timothy, we see love, trust, correction, encouragement, impartation, responsibility, and the passing of a spiritual inheritance from one generation to another.
In this course, we will journey through 1 & 2 Thessalonians and 1 & 2 Timothy to discover how God uses suffering to form mature sons and daughters, and how healthy spiritual family helps establish believers in identity, endurance, calling, and purpose. We desperately need both realities in this generation: believers who know how to stand in the fire without losing faith, and sons and daughters who know they belong, know who they are, and know how to receive and carry spiritual inheritance.
Course Curriculum
Your Instructor: Corey Russell
Corey Russell’s passion is to awaken prayer across the earth. He travels nationally and internationally, imparting the spirit of prayer and stirring hunger for revival.
He has written 9 books, released 6 prayer albums, and is discipling thousands through his online school, coreyrussellonline.com, as well as training preachers through his mentorship program, Messenger Mentorship.
He is part of the pastoral team at House Denver in Denver, Colorado, where he lives with his wife and three daughters.
