Abstract

Jesus Christ’s sacrifice was the essential power behind the leadership of the early church. Church leadership was built on the sacrifice of Christ’s blood and exerted its influence, and the church community expanded by participating in Christ’s sacrifice. Today Christ’s sacrifice is sometimes only formally conveyed, which, as the Apostle Paul said, can be a dangerous signal in the ministry field (1 Cor 2.2; Phil 3.18). Christian leaders need to reflect their ministry and church leadership on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice and apply the key points that Christ’s sacrifice conveys to church leadership.

Jesus is at the center of church leadership, and Christ’s sacrifice has served as a bridge between Jesus and our lives. Christ died and ascended to heaven after his resurrection, and Christ’s sacrifice and meaning were conveyed through the early church and served as a conduit to make the people of the kingdom of God. The blood and sacrifice of Christ, who founded the early church, were continuously delivered through the sacrament and the proclamations of the Word, and early Christians participated in evangelism ministry as they themselves became sacrifices. Thus, Christ’s sacrifice was the process of God’s ministry to build churches, and at the same time, it was the essential power that led the early church to life.

This paper examines the concepts of how Christ’s sacrifice influenced the early church and categorizes the types of early church leadership into five categories. It also applies early church leadership to modern church leadership and presents prospects. After the apostles, early church leadership and the sacrificial ministry of the leaders influenced the church along with the works of the Holy Spirit and the blood of Christ’s sacrifice. Just as the resurrection of Christ cannot be established without Christ’s cross, church leadership cannot exist without the blood of Christ’s sacrifice. Through this article, I look forward to strengthening the essential parts of church leadership by reflecting on the meaning of the blood of Christ’s sacrifice. In addition, while pursuing the restoration of early church leadership, I expect that mature growth will occur within the actual work of the Holy Spirit.

Degree Date

Spring 5-14-2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

D.Min.

Department

Ministry

Advisor

Dr. James Lee

Second Advisor

Dr. Ruben Habito

Subject Area

Religion, Theology/Religious Education

Number of Pages

170

Format

.pdf

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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