KEY TRUTHS

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people
and members of the God's household” Ephesians 2:19

The important truths are these:

1. The Church is a family.

2. God hopes that you be a member of the Church’s family.

3. A Christian without a family/church is an orphan.

1. The church is a family.

Ephesians 2:19 says “…the God's household”. It does not say that the church is like a family, but
that the church is a family. It is a spiritual family. In fact, your spiritual family is going to last
longer than your physical family. The Bible says that there is no marriage in heaven, but it says
that there are Christians in heaven. Therefore, we all will be united and related in heaven. And
that family will last longer than your blood related family, here on earth.

Some families are strong, others are weak. Some are sick, others are healthy. Some are small,
and others are big. The same is true with the persons who constitute the family of the church.

2. God hopes that I be a member of a family.

Notice that God says, “You are a member of God's own family” This means that it is God's will.
It is not optional. Every Christian needs a family (church). A Christian without a family, (church)
is like a person who says, “I want to play professional football, but I do not want to be a part of a
team” or “I want to play an instrument, but not to be in an orchestra.” The reality is that we need
one another to be strong in the Christian faith.

You need to understand that the word “church” is used in the Bible in two different ways. First, it
is used to refer to every Christian who has lived through history. That is called a universal
church. Every believer around the world, not taking in consideration their denomination, or if he
is inside or outside of a building called church, or in a tent, or in a small hut, or anywhere else, is
part of the Universal Church.

Another way, in which the word “church” is used, is to refer to a local group, a specific place. As
the church in Corinth, the church that was in Lydia's house, the church that was in the hill or as
the church here of Vida Nueva. It is used in a local sense. Only four times it is used in the Bible
to refer to a universal sense. Almost whenever you see the word “church” in the Bible, it is to
refer to a specific group of believers like us, who are here today.
At the moment that you gave your life to Christ, you became a believer and automatically
became part of God's universal church. You do not become part of a local church until you make
your own selection. It is as when you were physically born. You automatically entered the human
race because you did not have any other option. You became part of the human race the moment
you were born, but you did not become part of a local family until someone decided to take you
home from the hospital.

This is what we are trying to say. You need to be part of a local family church. Many people say,
“I do not need to be part of a local church. I am part of the invisible church.” Then I say to them,
“wonderful! But when you are sick, who visits you at the hospital? The Pastor? the church
leaders? or the invisible members?” You need someone in the flesh. There are more than thirty
mandates in the Bible that you neither might obey nor might follow, until you become part of a
local church and say, “This is going to be my family church for the rest of my life.”

3. A Christian without a family church is an orphan.

The Bible says, “You belong to God's house as every other member of the church.” As I
previously said, God has given us at least 30 mandates in the New Testament that you can not
fulfill until you choose to be part of a local church.

Only in America, we have those who are called floating believers. These are persons who, every
week, show up at a different church. “This week we will go to the Cathedral of Faith. Next week
we will go to the Temple of Worship, then to the Church of Grace, and later on we will go to the
church that is on the hills of the coast. Then we will go to Vida Nueva Church”.

These persons, who are floating around different places without establishing themselves at any
church, need support and guidance so that they can be established at one place. Vida Nueva is
open and prepared to teach and help all those families who want to be established in a church.
That is why we have written this material to give stability to the families of our church. It is our
desire that everybody finds a safe place in our church.

The Bible says that if you are a Christian, you are a part of the body of Christ. You could well be
the hand, the ear, the eyes, the nose, or the liver. What would you say if your liver told you, “I
think that for one week I will be part of this body and next week I will be part of another body
and the following week I will be part of this body again ...” What will it happen? What is going
to happen very soon is that your disconnected liver is going to shrink and eventually die. In the
same way you need to be a member of a permanent family church because that is God's will for
your well being.

What is the difference between being a Christian and being a member of a family church? The
difference is the word “commitment” I become a Christian when I commit my life to Christ. I am
a member of a church by committing myself to other Christians. This is true when I say, “This is
going to be my home church where I am going to give and receive, where I am going to serve
and be served, where I will love and be loved, and where I will take care of others and I will be
taken care of”

Write your answers

Therefore,

1. The Church is ______________.

2. God hopes that you _________________________of the Church’s family.

3. A Christian without a family/church is _________________.

THE BASICS FOR THIS CLASS

What makes Vida Nueva a family?

Every Sunday afternoon our attendance is approximately 105 people, including children. They
all come from different cultural backgrounds. They have different habits, races, intellects,
languages, etc. We are different in many ways. So what makes Vida Nueva a family? Here are
four reasons:

Four things that join us:

1. Mission: (why we exist as a church)

2. Vision: (what we dream to become as a church)

3. Strategy: (How we will make our dreams come true)

4. Structure: (How our church is organized)

Outline

FIRST SESSION:

Page

1. OUR MISSION …………………………….……………………………………………… 9

Vida Nueva's mission in Gresham ….………………………………………………...……….10

1. We seek through evangelism.

2. We guide through discipleship.

 3. We edify through ministries.

4. We send through missions.

Our faith ……………………….……………………………………………………………… 24

• What we believe in.

Our way of life ………………………………………………………………………………….31

• What we practice.

SECOND SESSION:

2. OUR VISION ………………………………………………………………………………33

• Spiritual Vision.

• Numerical Vision.

• Physical Vision.

What we value ……………………………………………...…………………………………. 38

THIRD SESSION:

3. OUR STRATEGY ……………………………………………....………………………….40

What is Vida Nueva's strategy?

Who is Mr. Vida?

How do we manage to reach him?

How do we try to develop him?

FOURTH SESSION:

4. OUR STRUCTURE …………………………………………………………….………….53

• Nine principles which make Vida Nueva unique.

• The structure of our Church.

 • Our affiliation.

• What does it mean to be a member?

• My membership agreement.

FIRST SESSION

OUR MISSION OUTSIDE

Christ said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

OUR MISSION INSIDE

“I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one
another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in
mind and thought.” 1 Corinthians 1:10

10

Vida Nueva's mission

Vida Nueva is in Gresham, OR, to do the work that Jesus Christ entrusted us when He said,
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

THE GREAT COMMISSION

“Therefore go…” It is evangelism.

“…and make disciples…” It is discipleship.

“…teaching them to obey everything…” It is ministries.

“…go to all the nations…” It is missions.

For such motive, we firmly believe that Jesus sent Vida Nueva to earth in order to reproduce
followers of Christ.

Therefore Vida Nueva's mission is directed to do four things:

1. To search through evangelism.

 To increase the church’s membership.

2. To guide through discipleship.

 To make the church bigger in God's knowledge.

3. To edify through ministries.

 To make a bigger church through stewardship.

4. To send out through missions.

 To make the church bigger by accomplishing its mission.

Then we exist for these four reasons because we believe that by accomplishing “The Great
Commission”, we will be accomplishing “God’s great commandment” of being a “Great
church.”

Declaration of our Mission:

This summarizes everything that we do here in Vida Nueva

“To bring the people to Christ, to equip them through the Process of Development so that they
may, too, serve God.” Matthew 28:19-20

11

1. WEE SEEK THROUGH EVANGELISM

The definition of evangelism is: “sharing the good news.” Ephesians 3:10 says, “His (God)
intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to
the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,”

In other words, the purpose of the church is to talk about God, to talk about the incredible things
that He has done, and the amazing person that He is, and to show His wisdom to others. That is
our purpose.
Romans 10:13-14 says, “For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How,
then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of
whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” The
main point of the verse is that you cannot know God until somebody else tells you the gospel.

To a great majority of the persons, first, someone told them about of Jesus Christ before they
came to church. That is our mission, to tell the good news of Jesus Christ to every person. In
Vida Nueva we are committed to grow. Our membership consists of 105 persons including
children. If this number is not enough, how many more people do we need? I only want to give
you some reasons about why this church is never going to stop growing.

Why our church must never stop growing?

1. Because God loves every person.

This is one of the most important reasons of all. Because God loves every person, we also love
them. 2 Peter 3:9 says: “…He (Lord) is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but
everyone to come to repentance.” The fact is that we believe that every person in the world needs
Jesus Christ.

Each of us needs to have a relationship with God because if we do not do it, we will live in
eternal condemnation. Because we know what that means, we are going to continue reaching out
to everyone who lives in Gresham, Portland, Sandy, etc.

12

We feel the responsibility to tell them about Jesus Christ. Because He loves the whole
community, we also do it. So at Vida Nueva we will never stop growing.

2. Because God commands us to reach out to those who do not Know Christ.

God says that our duty is to give people a hand and to tell them about Jesus. In Luke 14:23, Jesus
is speaking: “Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house
will be full” We currently are 105 persons here and somehow the house/building is not full as
Jesus said that it should be.

Every person who visits us represents someone who needs Jesus. In Acts 1:8 Jesus again speaks:
“…and you will be my witnesses…” He does not say, maybe, if you are having a good day or if
you feel like it, then you can be my witnesses.

Clearly, Jesus said: “…you will be my witnesses…” We will extend our hand to people because
God loves them. So we reach out to people because He has commanded us to.

3. Because growth is God's will.

It is God's will that His church grows. Colossians 2:19 says, that under Christ's control “…The
whole [entire] body…grows as God causes it to grow.” God is very clear, very frank. He says
that He wants His church to grow.

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says, “…I will build my church...” God loves everyone. He wants us to
continue helping others. He has said that we will do it if we are His disciples.

Therefore, in Vida Nueva, you and I will do what Jesus said. We will share our faith because the
growth of our church is God's will.

Allow me to give you some not Biblical reasons that we have heard about why we must stop
growing and put a barrier to this growth. They are not biblical, so do not think that these are
good.

13

ANTIBIBLICAL EXCUSES TO NOT GROW

1. Some say, “God is not interested in numbers.”

If God is not interested in numbers, why He named a book of the Bible with this name
"numbers” And what does He do in this book of Numbers? He numbers people time after time.
Why? Because every single person, every number, represents a person that He loves. God is
interested in numbers. These represent the persons.

The point is, obviously, that the persons are important and we count them to know if we are
accomplishing our mission. Every number represents a person. God is interested in numbers.

2. Others say, “Our church wants quality, not quantity.”

This normally is said in a very religious tone. When you go fishing, which are you more
interested in, quality or quantity? Are you not interested in both? I believe that, yes, you are
interested in both things. The majority of people who go fishing want to catch the most fishes
they can within the legal limits and the biggest and the nicest. There is no contradiction between
quality and quantity.

The same applies to church when we try to reach big numbers of people for Christ and want
them to grow to the maturity of Jesus Christ. Quantity and quality go easily together. One of our
goals at church is to be one of the most spiritually mature churches by 2015.

If we were not interested in quality, we would be interested in just numbers when reaching out to
people. We want that as many people as possible know Jesus Christ and we want to help them
through their process of development to reach full maturity in Jesus Christ, so that they can be
quality believers. Absolutely, there is no contradiction here.
How many of you were not first-born in your family? And what if his parents had said, "We have
a quality child so we do not need anything else” Many of you would not be here or, even, be still
alive.

14

For example, if Loly and I had 3 children and were camping with our three children and
suddenly we lost all three, we would immediately go out to look for them. Then Loly finds one
of them and says, “Honey, we do not need to search any more. I have found a quality child!”
Would I be happy with it? By no means! Would you? You certainly would not.

3. Others have said that big churches are impersonal.

In reality a big church is not achievable if you are not friendly. Usually, people do not go to a
church which is cold and hostile and where people are not nice. Commonly the small churches
are that way and not the big churches. Big churches achieve to be big because they are friendly
and take care of their people.

In the coming years, we want thousands of visitors say that Vida Nueva impresses them. And the
number one thing that we want to hear is about the fervor and fellowship that exists in the
church.

During the last ten months that we have met with the church’s leadership, we have tried to
encourage ourselves to be friendly and to always say hello. We know it would be insane to say,
“Greet 47 persons” This cannot be done in just a few minutes.

Then, how do we achieve to be friendly? I believe, firmly, that it is making contact with people.
They know that a smile and a greeting are important and it makes them feel that there is someone
who is interested in them and that they have found good friends in Vida Nueva. Big or small
churches can be impersonal, but Vida Nueva is not.

While the church keeps growing, every Sunday at 12:15 pm. it also becomes small by having the
membership participate in the small groups of development. Then, at 1:30 pm., it is absolutely
fantastic to have our celebration where there are more than 100 people praising and worshiping.
Our voices can be heard singing along the music. It is an incredible experience and I love it.

Vida Nueva is going to grow so much more, but you need to be a part of a small group where
they know your name, where they know what is going on in your life so they can take care of
you, where they know your troubles and they are there to help when you are sick at the hospital,
or when a tragedy has occurred, or to simply help you with the normal daily things of the life.

We become big on Sunday afternoons, and at the same time we become small by participating in
a small group.
We are aware that attending church one Sunday every week is not enough to face the challenges
and problems of the week. For that reason, every Tuesday at 7:00 pm, we have meetings of small
groups in many different homes. So we encourage you to look for a home where you can meet
every Tuesday. And if you would like us to start a new small group at your house, please feel free
to contact any of the coordinators for small groups.

Guillermo and Blanca Sosa. Cell. (503 927 8714) - (503 927 8716)

16

2. GUIDE THROUGH DISCIPLESHIP

We exist to educate the people of God

The definition of it is discipleship. Discipleship means to help the believers to grow spiritually.
Hebrew 6:1 “Therefore, let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to
maturity...” Evidently there is something more than to simply know Jesus Christ in a personal
relationship. There is something more that Vida Nueva offers you and that is the discipleship. For
that, we use the book “New Life in Christ.”

The Bible says that we should mature, becoming more like Christ. 2 Pedro 3:18 says: “But grow
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ...” And Ephesians 4:11-13 says,
“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some
to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of
Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of
God and become nature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

One of our goals at church is to be one of the most spiritually mature churches by 2015. This part
is discussed in class “B” of this process of development.

These classes will continue opening whenever we have 5 or more disciples. In this class we will
teach them how to grow in their relationship with God, and how to begin the process of maturity.

These classes talk about how to learn the most elementary steps of the Christian life, how to
know more about Christ, the church, the family, the future, how to study the Bible, and learn
about prayer and a devotional time. This class talks about the things that will lead you to this
path which will transform you into a spiritually mature person. Take this class and you will get
all the necessary information for your daily living.

NEW LIFE IN CHRIST volumes 1, 2, and 3, are the books with 39 lessons that we study weekly.
We have these classes every Sunday at 12:15 pm. and every Tuesday at 7:00 pm. We have classes
for all ages that are taught by 10 dynamic and loving teachers.
17

3. EDIFY THROUGH MINISTRIES

We exist to educate the people of God

A definition of ministry is to fulfill the needs with love. The reality is that we all have been hurt
at any given moment in life. We all carry a wound. We all fight a battle. It does not matter how
well you look. It does not matter if your shoes match your purse or wallet. It does not matter if
you have a big house, and a good car, and a good job.

It does not matter, really, if all these things are in its place because somewhere in your life there
is a wound, a need, a battle. Part of the reason, of why this church exists, is to help you fulfill
these needs with love, to fulfill not only the needs of those who are here, but also those of the
community where we know that people are suffering and dying.

So, one of the purposes of our existence is to show love, and satisfy people’s needs. John 13:35
says, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Jesus could
have thought about all kinds of reasons, all kinds of slogans for his disciples and He had the
opportunity to tell them, this is how I want you to be known.

He did not say to his disciples, “I want you to be known by your fabulous preaching; I want you
to be known for how well you dress, or for the nice churches that you build, etc.” Instead, Jesus
said, “I want you to make disciples; I want you to teach others about me, I want you to be
admired in this world for being loving people who are willing to give your time, your finances,
and more.”

We want people in this area to know that Vida Nueva church is a place of love, a place where
you give love, a place where you can express love, and a place where you can mitigate and heal
your needs. It is more important to be known as people who love than as people who have a great
building.

Our small groups, which meet on Tuesdays at 7:00 pm. and every Sunday at 12:15 pm., are the
heartbeats of God’s heart in Vida Nueva. Those are the places where you need to get involved in
and where you will find people who will get know you and will be concerned about you.

18

1 Corinthians 12:4-6, 27 says, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are
different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same
God works all of them in all men. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is part of
it.” This is one of my favorite metaphors used in the Bible to illustrate the church as a body.
Each of us has a body, so we can relate to this metaphor. Jesus is the head of the body. He is in
charge. We all are the other parts. Some are the elbows; others are the knees, or the eyes, or the
nose, or the big finger on the foot, etc. We all are a part in the body of Christ.

What we have to offer is something very valuable. I know that when some of you came to this
church, you probably took a look around and thought to yourself, “They do not need me here.
What can I give? I cannot sing as Adrian, I cannot play the keyboard like Erick, I cannot play the
drums like Josue, I cannot talk or pray the way others do, or I cannot teach kids, etc. But
although you think that way, you must know that here YOU ARE NEEDED!

We need each of you and each of you is vital and necessary. When you gave your life to Jesus
Christ, He gave you in exchange a gift, something that could be used to serve God in Vida
Nueva. Therefore, do not feel inadequate because here, at Vida Nueva, you are important.

God uses ordinary people. He chooses those like you and I to fulfill his will in what He
commands. God chooses the persons who will give everything no matter how little power they
may have because little things become great when we put them in the hands of the Lord.

God promises that if you give him what seems to be small, He will take it and bring a miracle to
your life.

19

God has something for you here in Vida Nueva. Because of it, we have determined that:

Every member is a minister

In Vida Nueva each of you is a minister. If you belong to Jesus Christ, you are His minister.

Every task is important

The persons who close the building are as important as the persons who are in the pulpit every
week.

People who bring food to share, people who vacuum the carpet, people who bring others to
church, people who invite others to come church, people who take care of the building, people
who make sure that everything is in order in the building, are so important as those who teach
our children in Sunday School. At Vida Nueva, we value your life and your work, because all of
that is important in the God's work.

Every member is a "100/100"

In any given area of the church, you have something very special. Even if you are a typical
familiar person, you have that to offer it to God and He will take it and use it in a miraculous
way. We trust you, and firmly believe that you can, and know how to, do things right.
If something did not go well, we will not criticize you, but we will help you to try again. You
have the right to make a mistake as any of us. We just encourage you not to make the same
mistake twice. We thrive not to make the same past mistakes, so we want to help you prevent any
fall.

We believe that the best way to learn to live is by observing and listening to the experiences that
others have lived through, either good or bad, so that we do not make the same errors. We listen
to your advices, and learn to prevent any danger thanks to the people who attend Vida Nueva. So
we like helping each other instead of criticizing each other.

That is what we live for.

20

4. SENDING THROUGH MISSIONS

We exist to carry the mission among the people of God

On this phase of our purpose you have already discovered which are your gifts and talents to
serve God in Vida Nueva.

Our goal is that you serve the rest of your life to accomplish God's mission in Vida Nueva using
your time, talents, and treasures for His Kingdom, without caring so much about what area to
serve in or where God takes you or how much it will cost you.

We were created to fulfill God's purpose.

Proverbs 16:4 (NL) says, “The Lord has made everything for his own purposes …”

God planned your mission in life before you were born.

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Your mission in life has, both, universal elements (God calls every Christian to complete a task)
and unique elements (What God has designed for me to accomplish).

To fulfill your mission in life brings glory to God.

John 17:4 says, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.”

Therefore, the main task in Vida Nueva is to fulfill your mission in life. Acts 20:24 says,
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the
task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.”
To discover your mission in this world, you must first understand God's global purpose on
having created the human being.

WHAT WAS JESUS’ MISSION?

Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

John 18:37 b says, “In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to
testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

21

John 10:10 says, “…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

WHY DOES JESUS' MISSION MUST MATTER TO ME?

Because of ten reasons given by Jesus,

1. If I want to be like Jesus, MY MISSION in life must include HIS MISSION in life.

Jesus prayed to the Father “As you sent me [to a mission] into the world, I have sent them [to
a mission] into the world.” John 17:18.

2. Jesus HOPES that I continue his mission into the world.

“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 20:21

3. To share the Good News is my RESPONSIBILITY.

To preach the gospel “Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to
preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” 1 Corinthians 9:16

4. To share the Good News is a PRIVILEGE.

“And God has given us the privilege of urging all to enter his grace and of being reconciled
to Him” “…and gave us the ministry of the reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:18 b

5. I am GRATEFUL for what Jesus has done for my.

“Remember that at that time [the past] you were separate from Christ … without hope, and
without God in the world.” Ephesians 2:12

6. Men are DESPERATELY LOST without Christ.

…For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call
on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have
not heard?” Romans 10:13-14
7. God wants that ALL MEN be saved.

“[God] not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” [that everyone
change their hearts and lives] 2 Pedro 3:9

22

8. You will be REWARDED for eternity.

“Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and the Master you
are serving is Christ.” Colossians 3:24 (NL)

9. GOD’S TIMING In history runs around you to complete our mission.

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all
nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14

10. Because you WILL REJOYCE when you see those who are saved in heaven.

“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who
repents…” Luke15:7a

Knowing this, what will be your response?

“But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus
- the work of telling others the Good News about God’s wonderful kindness and Love.” Acts
20:24 (NL)

All of that is what makes us grow in Vida Nueva. This is what we pursue in the fourth phase of
our mission.

COMPLETE CHART OF OUR MISSION

On the next page you will find a chart which we use to describe Vida Nueva's mission.

Feel free to use this chart when talking to your relatives, friends, and others or use it when
evangelizing someone. It will certainly help you, in a great way, tell others why we exist.

I use this chart every time I invite someone to, or talk about, our church. I let them know that the
church provides them things which they cannot find in any other part of the world. The church
helps you focus and develop in God’s way and no country in the world does this. Only the
church helps you meet with God!

23
EXPLAIN TO PEOPLE VIDA NUEVA’S MISSION ==
Mateo Medios Iglesia Beneficio Beneficio
Misión Tarea
28:19-20
Objetivo Blanco
Básico Provee Emocional para ti
Objetivos Propósito
“Por lo Comunid Mi
Buscamos Evangelizar Misión por el cual Significado por el cual
tanto, íd,..” ad testimonio
vivir vivir
Valores Principios
“…y haced Congreg Mis
Guiamos Discipular Madurez por el cual Apoyo por el cual
discípulos” ación relaciones
vivir vivir
“enseñánd
Enseñanz
oles que Entrenami Compro Las Cimientos
Edificamos Ministerios a por el Estabilidad
guarden ento metidos Escrituras para vivir
cual vivir
todas…”
“…íd a Oportunid
Enviamos todas las Produzca ades por Profesión
Misiones Ministros Mi obra Realización
naciones, el cual para ejercer
…” vivir

24

OUR DECLARATION OF FAITH

What we believe in.

 In our beliefs, we show love and comprehension.

“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a
faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:2

The point in Vida Nueva is that we give priority to the beliefs and essential things. There are
eight things which you need to agree to if you want to join Vida Nueva.

Our Essential Beliefs

 In the essential beliefs, we have unity.

“…one body and one Spirit…, one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all…”
Ephesians 4:4-6

These are essential things that we believe in. These are things to which we need to be joined in
thought and purpose. Nevertheless, we are opened to your to interpretations, when you study,
when you pray, or when you ask God to teach you.

1. About God.

God is the creator and governor of the Universe and he has eternally existed in three persons: the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are equal and one only God. Genesis 1:1, 26,
27; Genesis 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14

2. About Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he is coequal with the Father. Jesus Christ lived a life without
sin, and he offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world when he died on the
cross. He rose on the third day to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He was taken up
into heaven and He will return to earth to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. Matthew
1:22,23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5; 14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14-15; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 1:3,4;
Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14,15; Titus 2:13

25

3. About the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is coequal with the Father and the Son of God. He is present in the world to
make men aware of their need of Jesus Christ. He lives in every Christian from the moment of
their salvation.

He provides every Christian with the understanding to live and the understanding of the spiritual
truths and direction to what is right. He gives a spiritual gift to every believer from the moment
of their salvation. As Christians we must live under His control every day. 2 Corinthians 3:17;
John 16:7-13; 14:16,17; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 3:16; Ephesians 1:13; Galatians 5:25;
Ephesians 5:18.

4. About the Bible.

The Bible is God's Word to us. It was written by human authors under the supernatural guidance
of the Holy Spirit and it is now the supreme source of truth for the Christian belief and life. For
being inspired by God, it is the unmistakable truth. 2 Timothy 1: 13; 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21;
Psalm 119:105,160; 12:6; Proverbs 30:5.

5. About Mankind.

Man was created to the spiritual image of God to be like him in character. The man is the
supreme object of God's creation. Though the man has a tremendous potential to do good, he is
stained by his trend to disobey God. This disobedience is called “sin”. That sin separates every
person from God and causes lots of problems in life. Genesis 1:17; Psalm 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6a;
Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:1, 2

6. About Salvation.

The salvation is the gift of God to us and it is necessary to accept it. We cannot pay for our sins
with our good deeds or personal improvement.

Only by trusting that Jesus Christ is God's offer for the forgiveness of our sins, we can be saved
from his punishment. When we turn away from our own controlled life, to a life controlled by
Christ, we are safe. Eternal life begins the moment in which one receives Christ as their Lord
Savior and. Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 14:6; 1:12; Titus 3:5; Galatians 3:26; Romans
5:1
26

7. About Eternal Safety.

Because God gives us life trough Jesus Christ, the believer can be sure about his salvation for
eternity. Salvation can not be lost. Salvation is obtained and kept by God’s grace and power. No
man can prevent this. John 10:29; 1 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25; 10:10-14; 1 Peter 1:3-5.

8. About Eternity.

All people were created to exist forever. We either live separated from God because of our sins or
live attached eternally to God through his forgiveness and salvation.

The eternal separation from God is hell. Living in eternal union with God is the eternal life.
Heaven and hell are real places for an eternal existence. John 3:16; John 2:25; John 5:11-13;
Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:15; Matthew 1:8; Matthew 2:44, 46

In these eight essential things we have unity and you need to agree them if you want to join
Vida Nueva. There are many other things that are opened for interpretation and we have freedom
in doing so. And in all the things, we have love and understanding.

1 Corinthians 13:2 “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all
knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing”

It is possible that you could be theologically correct, and be well documented about who the
beast and the red horse are, and what the glasses and trumpets mean, and when all this is going to
take place according to the book of Revelation. You could also be knowledgeable about the book
of Daniel, but what if you are not an affectionate and loving person? All that knowledge is worth
nothing!

27

Our non-essential beliefs

 In the non-essential beliefs, we have freedom.

“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters…Who are you
that you judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or fall. And he will stand,
for the Lord is able to make him stand…So then, each of us will give an account of himself to
God…So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God” Romans
14:1,4,12,22

There are some things in which you are not going to agree with other persons. We consider many
of those non essentials because your salvation will not depend on whether you believe them or
not. In Vida Nueva we believe that these non-essential beliefs can hurt and divide the body of
Christ especially when a person is very extremist in their belief. For such reason, you are free to
believe in them. It is here, in the non-essentials beliefs, where we accept diversity of thought.

For instance, some people ask me, “is this a charismatic church?” And I answer: “no, Vida Nueva
is not a charismatic church, but we are not anti charismatic. We love charismatic people.

There are some church members in Vida Nueva that have a charismatic background, and who at
some point spoke in tongues which they believe is an essential part of their faith and their
walking with God. On the other hand, there are those who see that as something strange and do
not want to be asked or forced to speak in tongues.

We do not believe that speaking in tongues is the only way to be saved since the Bible says that
Christ ALONE is the only savior. The gift of speaking in tongues is not one of our eight essential
beliefs, which we wrote about previously, but it is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that God
gives to whom He wants to give it to. On this matter, it is your own choice. If God has given you
that blessed gift, truth be told, I am glad for you as long as you do not tell others that they must
have that same spiritual gift.

That would make a difference. That is an example. We are not charismatic, but we are not anti-
charismatic. We love people and do not criticize them. We are here to be blessed by all the gifts
that God gives to his children.

28

About the second coming of Jesus Christ.

There are, probably, three principal positions: You are pre-millenarian, post-millenarian, or a-
millenarian. (If you do not have any idea of what this means, do not worry about it!) There is
freedom. The only thing that we believe and teach about the second coming of Christ is that
“Jesus Christ is coming again.” It is our responsibility to be ready and to have our hearts
prepared to meet Him.

Three days ago my son Ariel asked me “Dad, do Christians who smoke go to hell?” So I thought
to myself, “That is a really controversial topic.” Then my first response was, “No, but smoking
will make them smell as if they had been there” Then I explained him about the risks that
smoking brings to his health and his Christian testimony. Also, I told him about the advantages of
trusting God to dominate that addiction which is not beneficial at all.

A drinker. We believe that a Christian does not need to drink alcohol to feel well with oneself or
with their neighbor. At Vida Nueva we do not teach that the Scriptures teach that drinking
moderately is good.

Anything that makes you give the control of your life to something else, other than God, is very
dangerous. Drunkenness is always wrong in every circumstance. There is no place in life for
drunkenness. To everybody at Vida Nueva, we encourage you and exhort you to take a vow of
abstinence. Take complete abstinence because we do not want to add to our lives something that
becomes a habit because if we were to be drinking at some place, this would give permission to
others to drink too. So we all have decided, by all means, not to drink.

In short, we have unity in the things that matter, and give us freedom in the things that are not so
important, and above all, we treat each other with love. We accept everybody as they are. We
accept them not for what they are or what they do, but for they are human beings who deserve
our respect, love, care, and support.

We are like that for we look at people with Jesus' eyes. We wonder how would Jesus look at
those who still struggle with their addictions, bad habits, etc.? Certainly, Jesus would look at
them with eyes of love to help them transform their lives. That is what Vida Nueva does! That is
why we exist, to mirror God’s transforming power.

29

At Vida Nueva, you are going to find some people whom you may not like or identify with. You
may find some persons who might hurt your feelings intentionally or unintentionally. It could
happen that you would not get credit for something that you did and worked arduously to
accomplish. This will probably make you feel bad. However, you have to strive to be an example
of unity and Christian forgiveness, and help restore any bad situation.

You might find some people who are troublesome or who still have a difficult character. And you
might wonder, why does this happen? It is, simply, because the church is formed by people who
are just like you, imperfect, sinful, saved by God's grace and whom still make mistakes.

We need to have a loving heart towards those who we meet at this church. I say this to you so
that you can practice the reconciliation and forgiveness when necessary. You are going to need it!

You are going to need to learn to forgive and to have the will to do it if you are going to join this
church. We have never had a split at our church in twenty-three years of existence and we do not
want you to start one.

If you decide to join this church, come with a positive attitude which says, “If I encounter a
problem, I promise, before God, to do what the Bible says, doing it with a loving heart towards
the reconciliation and forgiveness.”

30

OUR STYLE OF LIFE

What We Practice
All beliefs are nothing until they are put into action. Based on what the Bible teaches, we
maintain the following seven practices:

1. The Bible is our only authority.

“All Scripture God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness,” 2 Timothy 3:16

Since God's word is the only real authority which is possible to depend on, we accept the Bible
as our manual to live. Our first question when taking a decision is: “What does the Bible says
about this?” We practice a daily biblical reading, Bible studies, and the memorization of the
Bible. The Bible is the foundation of everything that we believe in.

2. Autonomy of the local church.

Jesus Christ is the head of this church, not the pastor Johnny Sangoquiza or any of the church
leaders. Jesus Christ is the recognized head that we honor at this church. In agreement to that, we
are a body and always work together. He is the fountain of our life.

We value associating with other groups of Christians, but this church takes its own decisions on
its type of government and its properties. No other denominational control, outside of our
church, can tell us what to do or tell the pastor to move to another church. This church takes its
own decisions on those types of things. We are autonomous.

3. The priesthood of every believer.

1 Pedro 2:9 says: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into
his light.”

Revelation 1:6 “and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father-to
him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”

31

Nobody here wears a special gown or a special tunic. You and I are priests before God. We do
not need anybody to intercede for us before God. Jesus Christ already did that with His death and
resurrection. You do not need any another human being to act as a mediator between you and
God. Due to that, we all have equal access to God.

Sometimes people ask me, “Would you pray for me?” And they tell me about their needs in their
life. I know the reason they ask me is because I am the pastor and they believe that I have a
special direct line to God, but none of that is true. You and I have equal access to God.
We all are priests and that means that we have the same responsibility of sharing the Gospel to
people so that they praise God too. That is a unique privilege that we have and one that we
believe in at Vida Nueva.

2. Tithing.

“A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs
to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.” Leviticus 27:30. At Vida Nueva, we practice tithing for
the support of Christ's body, the church, as God teaches us. We acknowledge that giving 10 % of
our income is a biblical mandate.

The word tithe means ten per cent. That is how we support this church. We do not support it by
coordinating raffles or playing bingo or any other similar games. We sustain this church through
church members who give ten per cent of what they earn. Nobody is going to inquire whether
you are tithing or not. Nobody is going to knock on your door and say, “You are behind three
months. Please make sure you stay current!” Never! We have never done that and we will never
do it. Tithing is a matter between you and God.

We feel that if we teach you what the Bible says, your decision will stay between you and God. It
is the love to God and His work what makes people become members of Vida Nueva to support
and to give to the work of the church.

5. Baptism by immersion.

“Having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of
God, who raised him from the dead.” Colossians 2:12

32

We practice the baptism by immersion in water, the way in which Christ was baptized and the
way that the Bible stipulates it.

6. Living guided by the Holy Spirit.

(Jesus said)... “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will
bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

We believe that the only possible way to live a Christian life is through God’s power in us. We
seek to live a life which depends daily on God and His Holy Spirit to help us do what is correct.
“For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” Philippians
2:13 and Ephesians 5:18 say, “…be filled with the Spirit.”

7. To speak to others about Christ.

“…But in your hearts set apart Christ Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone
who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and
respect, keeping a clear conscience…” 1 Pedro 3:15-16 a

It is the responsibility of all Christians to share the Good News to every one whom God has put
around them and to personally share Christ and invite their neighbors and friends to church.
YES WE CAN!

33

SECOND SESSION

OUR VISION

“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint...”

Proverbs 29:18

2008-2015

RETADORA
MEDIBLE
FLEXIBLE
ON
VISI
ALCANZABLE

34 COMPARTIBLE

FECHA LIMITE

Vision 2008-2015

“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint...” Proverbs 29:18

THE VISION allows the church to see with clarity what God wants to get done, so a vision with
a task, in Christ, is the hope for the world.

Where do visions arise from?

Visions are born from God's heart. In the Old Testament the word VISION, in Hebrew, shows up
as name or a noun 43 times. The lack of vision, almost always, was there because the people of
God or their leaders had turned away from God or sin reigned among them.

Everything that exists today began with an idea, a thought, in someone’s mind. The universe,
including the human being, began as a thought in God's mind, and everything else as a thought in
the mind of man.

How do we want to see Vida Nueva in seven years (2008-2015)? What will our church be like
when we reach our Mission of transforming people into followers of Christ?
To envision is a matter of faith because it is necessary to deal with things which we can not see
in a concrete form. We have set our dreams in three parts:

1. Spiritual

2. Numerical

3. Physical

1. SPIRITUAL

Achieving full maturity in Christ.

• It is the dream of being a church dedicated to the practical and profound teaching of the
Bible to give the people what they need to grow spiritually, and to achieve full maturity
in Christ.

• It is the dream of developing the next generation of leaders whom God will use to
transform this society.

35

• It is the dream of being missionaries, beginning in our city. We believe that God wants
every Christian to be a missionary, someone sent to reach out to those who do not have
Christ. Our motto is “each one, with one” because we hope that each one of us be
actively evangelizing.

• It is the dream in which each one of us, here on Multnomah County, tries to reproduce
followers of Christ through friendship, and to plant the seed of the gospel (both, with
your lips and with your life as testimony.)

• It is the dream of being who we are, without any pressure to change according to the
opinions or expectations of the world, with freedom to walk with God as He has made us.

• It is the dream of training each believer in order to have a specific ministry, helping them
discover their talents and gifts that God has given them.

• It is the dream that our music ministry manages to be professional, touching,

contemporary and well organized.

• It is the dream that our music ministry have their own songs for recording.

• It is the dream to keep adding more musical players specially those who can play wind
instruments such as: Trumpets, saxophones, bugles, etc.
 • It is the dream of having concerts and alternative worship celebrations based on music
only performed at special venues.

• It is the dream of training those who God has called to the music ministry.

• It is the dream of having a music band led by children, teenagers and youth who will first
perform at our prayer meetings and eventually play on our Sunday celebrations and at
any other events.

36

2. NUMERICAL:

A church of 400

• It is the dream that by April, 2015, we will have a church of 400 members or more.

• It is the dream of looking for people without Christ to show and give them: love, trust,
acceptance, support, guidance and encouragement.

• It is the dream to know, and to contact, all the 40,000 Hispanics who live in Gresham and
through out 10 miles around our church, to share the gospel of Christ.

• It is the dream of a sufficiently big church, in membership, to have a voice in our society.
If we want to influence our next generation, we need to have a voice among them.

• It is the dream that while we are becoming a big church, at the same time, we turn into a
small church through a genuine friendship so as to not lose the sense of family and
community.

• It is the dream of becoming a community of authentic, genuine, polite, and open people
who will accept anyone who God brings to our church.

• It is the dream of being an attractive church for those who share our culture.

• It is the dream of being a big congregation and simultaneously being genuine, transparent
and real in every sense.

• It is the dream of a new, fresh, and contemporary church to attract people who are not
attending any church regularly.

• It is the dream of a Sunday service where we can invite our neighbors, friends, and
relatives, to listen to good and to receive a practical and relevant message of the Bible.

• It is the dream of developing creative ministries to reach out to those who do not have
church.
37

• It is the dream of focusing our attention to the areas of people’s interests (for example:
recreation, family orientation, education and community service). This way, we will be
able to fulfill people’s real needs, and share, in a relevant and significant way, the Gospel
of Christ.

3. PHYSICAL:

To have a property of more than 10 acres.

• We understand that the Church is not just a building, but that we, the believers, are the
Church. But we also understand that a building is an extremely important and useful tool
for Vida Nueva to carry out God's mission here on earth.

• It is the dream of being owners of a property of more than 10 acres and we will work on
this from June, 2008 until April, 2015.

• It is the dream of a nice and clean place which is useful in the ministry to accomplish the
mission that God has ordered us to do.

• After buying the property,

• It is the dream of building new, contemporary, and attractive buildings which are good for
multiple purposes,

o Where children can play safely and know the Lord through a creative, relevant
and interesting education.

o Where the youth can congregate for activities and teachings.

o Where adults and elders can find friendship, and feel rejuvenated. Also where
they can receive a healthy biblical education for their lives and biblical guidance
to be successful in God's plan.

• It is the dream of building two buildings and two centers of recreation.

o The first building will be the sanctuary to celebrate our general services, and it
will also have two big and elegant classrooms for bible studies and prayer
meetings.

o The second building will be designed to have administrative offices, a bookshop

and an inspiring conference room for the training of leaders and ministers. It will
also be available to the city and other institutions to hold their meetings,
 conferences, or other activities, as long as they do not compromise Vida Nueva's
doctrine and principles.

38

o The first recreational center will mainly be used for sports (football, soccer,
basketball, and a gym).

o The second recreational center will be exclusively for our dining room and a place
of leisure. It will be an ample room with an attractively fresh look, which inspires
the very presence of God.

Declaration of Vision.

We firmly believe that God has called us to reach out to those who do not know Christ and those
who do not have a church in our city, to get them involved in a continuous growth at a spiritual,
personal, and collective level. Ephesians 4:13

WHAT WE VALUE

We all have values. Jesus said on Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.” All of us invest our time, our energy, and our money, in the things that we value
most. All churches become what they value as well.

At Vida Nueva, we have determined what WE are going TO DO and, definitively, what WE are
going TO BE as a church. Jesus, on John 14:21, says: “Whoever has my commands and obeys
them, he is the one who loves me.” This means that we have to be moved by our free will and not
by our feelings or thoughts, because feelings and thoughts do not reach their maximum
expression which is to follow our will to do God's will.

“To obey” means: to do, to practice. Then:

• Jesus' words to his disciples were not, “feel things for me” (Feelings)

39

• Jesus' words to his disciples were not, “Think about me” (Thoughts)

• Jesus' words to his disciples were “follow me” (Will)

For that reason, at Vida Nueva, we value all the volunteers’ service to God and we strive to serve
Him in an efficient way by our own will.

Declaration of our values

We have two essential values that we develop at our church. First: To love God with all our
being. Second: To love all people.

III. OUR VALUES (Mark 12:30-31)

We value:

The biblical education (Acts 2:42-43)

• The Scripture preached with clarity, purity and love.

• The integral development for children and teenagers in God's word.

Prayer (Acts 2:42)

• Prayer as the most effective way to receive God's answers.

Fellowship (Acts 2:42)

• The support and give opportunities to every family to completely participate without any
barriers.

The community (Acts 2:44)

• The church, in alliance with those who share the same vision.

Evangelism (Acts 2:47)

• Every person transformed by God, living through a life of obedience to Christ.

• Music as an excellent vehicle of evangelism and worship.

The leadership (Acts. 2:42-43)

• Respect to the connected, complete, and committed leadership.

• The members and non members with the ability to work and to walk the extra mile.

• The commitment of the members and non members who sustain the church financially.

• Every woman as an intercessor and an active help in the church ministries.

40

THIRD SESSION

OUR STRATEGY
“…That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge …To the weak I became weak, to
win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save
some ...I do all this for the sake of the gospel…”

1 Corinthians 9:18, 22, 23

EVANGELISMO

DISCIPULADO
ALCANCE

41 MINISTERIOS

MISIONES

WHAT IS VIDA NUEVA’S STRATEGY?

You need to understand this, why do we not use hymnals on Sunday afternoon? Why do we not
celebrate the Supper, on Sunday morning, more often? Why do I sometimes show a video clip
before preaching? And why do I write my sermon and the biblical verses on the church’s
screens?

This kind of questions are basically saying, How come we are not like the traditional church?
The answers to all these questions are clarified when you understand our strategy. Jesus said, “I
did not come to those who are healthy. I came to the sick. To seek and to save what is lost.” Our
goal is to reach out to those who do not know Christ.

What is the profile of Hispanics living in Gresham, Portland, and its surroundings?

We have developed a small profile of the typical person that we try to reach. We have called that
person, Vida, and he is married to his lovely wife called, Nueva. They have four children, and the
way to reach them is not by asking them to be like us, and to become Christians. Instead, we will
be like them to tell them about Christ. 1 Corinthians 9:22

WHO IS MR. VIDA?

His description would be as follows:

• He does not know Christ. He is a great man and a good person, friendly and family
oriented. He lives within a radius of 10 miles from this church. But while you were at
church this afternoon, Mr. Vida was on the soccer field drinking a few beers. On other
occasions he had to work, or he jus went shopping on Sunday. He is a good guy. He just
does not know that he needs God.
 • He is foreign, and he came to this nation to provide his family a better life. He came in
search of a better future.

42

• He needs to work, and he is responsible and a hard worker. He does his best to keep his
job and be successful.

• He feels melancholy for his land and family, and he always remembers them with a
profound feeling.

• He is catholic by inheritance from his parents though he is not attending any church.

• He likes up-beat and the contemporary music mixed with recollections from the past.
Specially those of his native land so he can sing them.

• He needs to continue learning English, especially grammar.

• He is in need of family medical insurance.

• He needs counseling or legal advising to find the options available to fix his immigration
status.

• He needs transportation occasionally.

• He, sometimes, comes here with some family problems.

So that is the Mr. Vida, and we have 40 thousand Hispanics within a radius of ten miles from this
church.

If you had to design a church to reach Mr. Vida, knowing that he is between 30 and 45 years old
and that he feels that he has not achieved everything that he wants to achieve yet, how would you
do it?

Examples: How about, while Mr. Vida is at the store, we put on his car’s windshield a brochure
which reads, “Come to our church if you do not want to go to hell” could this help reach Mr.
Vida? NO, by no means it would.

Mr. Vida travels between 30 to 45 minutes approximately to go to work. He comes home at night
and closes his door. He watches TV while he is having dinner. Later on, he goes to bed and
wakes up the following morning, and gets ready to go to work again. What if we send some
stranger to knock on his door in the middle of his dinner to ask him to come to church, with a
group of people which he has never met before? Could this reach Mr. Vida?

43
How many of you think that Mr. Vida is going to listen to a Christian radio station? Absolutely
not. How many of you think that he is going to watch a Christian TV channel? Or that he can not
wait for Sunday to come to church? NO! I’m sure that he would never do that. Then,

HOW CAN WE REACH HIM OUT?

We firmly believe that the way to reach him out for Christ is when one of us approaches him and
becomes his FRIEND. You can say, “Hey Vida, you have to come to a celebration. It is
incredible. You do not have to get up early because it is in the afternoon (1:30 pm.), and it only
lasts about 80 to 90 minutes. If you have something to do during the week, do not worry it is
only on Sunday. Come to this place which is very clean and elegant, and you do not have to wear
a suit. They do not sing hymns. They play contemporary music that makes your spirit rejoice.
The messages are not offensive or even antiquated. Let’s go Vida, it is incredible!”

That is how we can ask Mr. Vida to visit us. Only through friendship telling them, “come and try
the good news during our celebrations!”

We do NOT criticize people when they are not singing because they do not know the song lyrics.
We do NOT look at them when they cannot pray or give an offering because we are not here to
make people feel bad or make fun of them. We only want people to come in and feel
comfortable, and listen for a moment, and try and receive, a stimulus from Christ. We do NOT
make people feel shameful.

Mr. Vida thinks that we are an organized religion and that he would have to commit, from the
beginning, to a set of rules. But we say, “Wonderful! Come to Vida Nueva, we are not religious
or legalistic with anybody.

He likes contemporary music, and our music is contemporary. The point is that we want to use
music that people understand and can relate to. That it is our style, and you need to find the
church of your style. Some churches are emotional, others are formal, but Vida Nueva is both.
We combine both styles: emotional and formal. We are kind on our style.

44

More over, when preaching, every Sunday afternoon, we use relevant topics such as: what does
God say about tension? What does God say about marriage? What does God say about worrying?
What does God say about money? All those subjects are talked about to reach the non-believers.

So, every Sunday afternoon we get ready so you can bring Sr. Vida with his family. If you are not
bringing to church your neighbors, friends, and coworkers who do not know Jesus, you are
missing the target.

Now you know why we do, what we do.

HOW ARE WE TRYING TO DEVELOP IT?

If Vida Nueva's mission is to reproduce and to turn people (Sr. Vida) into followers of Christ,
how will we manage to accomplish that Mission?

For that, we have a process of development as follows:

BIRTH  Discovering my calling Entering

GUIDANCE  Discovering my membership Class A

GROWTH Discovering my discipleship  Class B

MATURITY  Discovering my ministry Class C

REPRODUCTION  Discovering my stewardship  Enjoying

Crecimiento Guianza

Madurez

Nacimiento

Reproduccion

45

Vida Nueva has a team of evangelism dedicated to contact the visitors or new believers, to give
them a follow-up which consists of several friendly meetings at their houses or at any other
place. During that time, they share experiences of their lives they listen to people and take care
of some of their needs, pray for them, and encourage them.

Contact person for this ministry: Adrián Ubaldo (503) 674-0254

Vida Nueva encourages the whole congregation to an active stewardship in all the areas of their
life, each person helping in accordance with their divine design: teaching the Bible one on or in
groups, helping with the maintenance or the administration of the church, giving advice to
others, fulfilling physical needs in the community, and developing creative and innovative
ministries to reach out, for Jesus Christ, those who do not have a church

In other words, our strategy is:

1. To turn people into visitors  We search

by means of  Evangelism

2. To turn visitors into participants  We guide

by means of  Discipleship

3. To turn participants into leaders  We edify

 by means of  Ministries

4. To turn leaders into servants  We send

by means of  Missions
1 Convertir prospectos en visitantes

2 Convertir visitantes en participantes

3 Convertir participantes en llííderes

4 Convertir lí
líderes en siervos

46

FOUR CIRCLES OF COMMITMENT

At Vida Nueva, we currently have four different objectives; and the purpose of this church is to
direct people to the center of the circle through a personal spiritual commitment. More
specifically, we reinforce four basic areas of commitment:
EVANGELISMO

DISCIPULADO
ALCANCE

MINISTERIOS

MISIONES

Class A. It is the Community on the exterior circle.

Those are the ones that we want to reach out for Jesus Christ. We want them to come to know
Christ. We want to go out there, and to continue reaching out to them. As long as there are people
without Christ, this church will continue growing. We do not grow for our own benefit. The
bigger the church is, the more problems there are for Pastors, the more headaches, the more
weddings, the more funerals, and the more visits to the hospital there are. But we want to grow
Clase
big because we love people. We keep growing because the Bible says that God wants everybody
to know Jesus. We will keep growing, and growing because people need the Lord.
Clase Also, we call the community our occasional attendees. If you come to four events at Vida Nueva
in one year such as Christmas, Easter, Mother’s day and Valentine’s day or any other event, and
Clase fill out a visiting card, we will keep your name on our records (The List of Occasional
Attendees.) We currently have 31 names in our list of occasional attendees. This means that, one
GRADUACION
in every 1,290 persons living around Vida Nueva, on a 10 mile radius, has come to this church in
the last 4 months.

47

Class B. These are the congregation and the church members.

These people are taking Class B. They commit to be members of the church. You are not a
member of this church until you have committed to comply with the requirements of the
membership. One of them is, to study class A.
 They are committed to attend constantly. That is the group of people that are present on Sunday
afternoon. We call them the regular attendees; presently, our Sunday attendance is between 95
and 105 persons including children. There are, approximately, 110 Hispanic churches in the area
of Gresham, Portland, Beaverton, Vancouver, and their surroundings, and Vida Nueva is ranked
sixth in church attendance, among the twenty largest churches in the area.

At present, we have approximately 56 adult members. They are more than attendees; they are
church members who are taking Class B. We have 8 classes with different teachers for four
different ages, and we are teaching the same class, with the same material, to our children,
teenagers, youth and adults. The teachers organize their class and they teach it in accordance to
the students’ age. It is impressive!
Clase
Class C. The group of the committed members.
Clase
They have already taken class A, and B and now are taking Class C. They have just discovered
Clase
their gifts and talents. These are the people who are committed to church. They are getting ready
to be ministers and leaders. They are acquiring full growth on their gifts and their capacities on
GRADUACION
the Christian faith. They are strong believers, but for whatever reason they are not an active part
of a church ministry.

Graduation. The center of the circle where says “ministers.”

It is the center of the church and they are the people who are involved in the many different
ministries of the church. They are the leaders, the ministers, the musicians, the servants, the
greeters, the ushers, the childcare assistants, the chaplains, the evangelists, the prayer leaders, the
sound system and advertising coordinators, the computer systems coordinators, the teachers of
the small groups of development, etc. We have, on our church, 15 different ministries led by
those who are in the center. If you are a member of our church in a position of leadership, we call
you a part of the center.

48

The way for you to enter the center (nucleus) is by studying three classes: “A, B and C”. My goal
for you is that you move to the center. At the moment, we have approximately 37 persons at the
center. These are the people who are taking CLASS A, and are helping in some areas of the
church, using their gifts and talents. They are already helping because we recently started this
“Process of Development”.

So, Vida Nueva's objective is to keep people moving towards the center, encouraging them to a
spiritual commitment. For example: our church’s goal is to move the community to the
congregation. We want to stimulate those who come occasionally to be present every week and
become regular attendees. We hope that people who visit our church become members. How can
they be accepted in the congregation? Taking class A.
Immediately after class A, we want members to start growing in their faith, established in the
basics of their faith and transferred to the commitment stage. How can you move to the circle of
commitment? Taking Class B.

Then we want to stimulate the committed people to find a ministry where they can reciprocate,
serve, and use their talents and skills. We want them to move up to the center (nucleus) taking
Class C.

And finally, we want to give them opportunities to serve God, placing them where they can be a
blessing to others. By then, you will have completed classes A, B, and C.

49

WHY DO WE HAVE THESE STEPS OF COMMITMENT?

When you enter Vida Nueva, you are going to find help for your spiritual development. You will
never ever are going to stop growing because we have put together a plan of growth for you and
your family. It consists of four circles of commitment that I already explained; however, I now
have drawn a set of stairs so that you can see how you grow in your spiritual life.

5
SERVICIO
4
MINISTERIO
3
DISCIPULADO
2

MEMBRESIA
1

EVANGELISMO

This is one of the more important things that Vida Nueva can tell you. We become what we
commit ourselves to. Many people are committed fifty per cent, or less, on many different things.
If you really want to make an impact with your life, or make sure that your life counts, and make
a difference, you have to learn to be fully committed to a few things, instead of being somewhat
committed to a half a dozen things. One of our tasks, as leaders, is to help you arrange your
commitments in life and to make the right commitments.

These steps in your life will help you develop and become a servant of the Lord.

50

YOU ARE SPECIAL TO GOD AND TO VIDA NUEVA

The majority of people live without knowing “why” they exist. Year after year, they live without
any clue of why they are here, or what God's purpose for their lives is. The most basic important
question one has to ask himself is:

What is the meaning of my life?

Everybody wants to be happy and they all look for it in different ways:

Some look for happiness acquiring possessions; others, experiencing pleasures, or earning
prestige and personal satisfaction. But the real happiness comes when we understand: THE
PURPOSE OF MY LIFE.

Why am I here, on earth?

God created me so he could love me, guide me, equip me, and send me to complete His mission.
This is the lifestyle that God wants us to live. Therefore; Vida Nueva has all these benefits in
order that you live in complete harmony with God's purpose.

THIS STAR SHOWS GOD'S BENEFITS FOR YOU

EDIFICAR
Madurez

Clases C Clases B
Descubriendo Edificándose en el
EQUIPAR su ministerio Discipulado GUIAR
Ministerio Membresía
Creciendo
3
o

ando
nd

4 2
ena

Gui
Entr

Entrenamiento Com Clases A

Capacitándolo
en su misión
par
tien
do
1 scu
brie
ndo Conociendo a
Vida Nueva
De

ENVIAR
Misión

51

NINE PRINCIPLES THAT MAKE VIDA NUEVA UNIQUE

At Vida Nueva, we have 9 principles that make our church be unique. We did an acrostic with
our church’s name which has nine principles that make Vida Nueva different from other
churches.

Vida Nueva,

Values everyone who attends our Celebration Services. We have designed our church services in
order that you can enjoy them. We preach with a variety of “message series or topics” that relate
to our daily life.

We are sensitive on how we greet people. We try not to make them uncomfortable. We almost
never make our guests stand and tell us their name.

When we collect our offerings we always tell this: “If you are a guest, do not give an offering”
Many nonbelievers think that churches are here to only ask for money. Though it is true that we
depend on tithing and offerings given by our church members and attendees for the support of
this church, if you are a visitor, we want you to receive from us instead of feeling obligated to
give something to us.

Integrates every family in a network of small groups. Every Tuesday, Vida Nueva becomes a big
network of small groups. We want you to grow in your faith by being part of a big worshipping
group and a small fellowship group.
Designs processes and systems to help you grow. So far, we have designed the Process of
Development which will help you grow and discover your spiritual gifts to serve God. Our goal
is to help you become everything what God wants you to be.

Aims to reach out to those who do not have church. Vida Nueva does not try to reach everybody.
It tries to reach out to those who do not know the Lord as well as those who have stopped going
to a church.

52

Never closes its doors to opportunities. We always let people serve God. Every church member is
a minister. Every church member is not a pastor, but every church member has a ministry and
your ministry is to serve others.

Utilizes your abilities and talents. We firmly believe that God has sent you here to complete His
purpose on earth. Consequently, our church offers you the opportunity to use your skills and the
knowledge acquired on your profession.

Encourages everybody to not criticize others. We do not expect everyone to be perfect at this
church. At some churches, you have to be perfect or pretend that you are because if you are not
then you will not be welcome there. This church is for the people who do not have everything. It
is for the people who want to grow. It is for the frail people.

Values and lives led by a mission. We know where we come from, where we are, and where we
want to go.

Accepts all people as they are. We accept everyone without judging them. There is a difference
between acceptance and approval. We can accept a person without approving their lifestyle.
Jesus did it. He accepted the woman who was caught committing adultery without approving the
adultery itself. He accepted her and loved her without approving what she was doing. We can
accept all people without necessarily approving their bad habits. We do not expect the non
believers to act as the believers before they become believers.

All this is what makes us different from other churches.

It is worth-while to follow and to continue serving God at Vida Nueva!

53

OUR STRUCTURE
“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. But everything should be done in a fitting and
orderly way.” 1 Corinthians 14:33, 40

N
ue

da
va

Vi
54

VIDA NUEVA’S HISTORY

On 1982 the pastor of “Pleasant Home Church” along with Brother Guadalupe González, a
member of the church at the time, acknowledged the need to create a ministry in Spanish since
the strawberry fields were full of Hispanic workers and there was not a single Spanish-Speaking
church for them.

That same year they had their first meeting with only the families of Pastor Peter Conrrado and
Guadalupe González becoming the church’s founders. Among an arduous evangelistic work in
1984, and with a membership of 200, the church was established adopting the name of “Hispanic
Pleasant Home”

After two years, in 1986 and with an approximate membership of 250, Brother Guadalupe
González felt the call of God to enroll at the “Rio Grande Bible Institute”, making this year a
year of transition having to search for a new pastor for the Hispanic church. At the “Multnomah
Bible School” Pastor G. González met Brother Jaime Dunn who led the Hispanic church from
1987 to 1993. On that year, 1993, Pastor G. Gonzalez graduated from Rio Grande Bible Institute.

Under the leadership of Pastor Jaime Dunn, the Hispanic church moved to another building on
Cleveland St in Gresham, OR where Mountain View Church is located. Also, for the first time,
the Hispanic church adopted an own new name: “Iglesia Vida Nueva”

On 1993 Brother G. González led Vida Nueva until 1995 when he had to leave the church
because new challenges arose for his ministerial life.

On 1995, with a membership of 150 people, Pastor Alfredo Valencia was appointed as the new
pastor of Vida Nueva, which he led until May 26, 2002 when he and his family became
missionaries in Chile following God’s calling. From that date until June 6, 2007 the church had
no Pastor, but was kept together under the care of the church leaders and the help of other
preachers who served in Vida Nueva.

On June 6, 2007 Pastor Johnny Sangoquiza became Vida Nueva’s Pastor with a membership of
45 people.
During the last 23 years we have had four Pastors acknowledged by the entire congregation.
Each one of them has made a great impact in the life of the church. They left so many good
memories, and a great example of spiritual and moral purity worth imitating.

63

OUR AFFILIATION

We are affiliated to an Association

Vida Nueva is part of the Interstate Baptist Association which approximately has 4 Hispanic
churches in the Portland metro-area, Vancouver, and their surroundings.

Note: The “Association” is shaped by a group of local churches of a certain area, but a
“Convention” is shaped by a associations of churches of different states. In other words, the
Association is local and the Convention is state-run.

Why are we a part of a denominational convention?

We belong to a denominational convention because that is how we can support God's work
around the world. We are a part of the Convention Baptist of the South. A lot of churches, like
ours (IGLESIA VIDA NUEVA), do not carry the “Baptist” denomination on their names, but we
still are Baptists, denominationally speaking.

We are an independent church though we chose to be attached to a bigger body. Why did we do
that? We did that because we are a part of the biggest missionary force in the world. Just as we
believe in tithing to the Lord, we also give, as a church, ten percent of Vida Nueva’s income to
the IBA and NWBC to help other churches start their ministry. We are a part of what is called the
Cooperative Program which is the biggest missionary force in the world. Every Sunday when
you give you are supporting 10,500 missionaries in 134 countries. Your donations help to preach
the Gospel all over the world.

Who is the Southern Baptist Convention to which we belong?

• It is the biggest Denomination of Christian churches in the United States of America and
the American Continent.

• One in every ten churches in the United States is affiliated to SBC. It approximately has
43 thousand churches. 15 million members more than other denominations, combined.

• It has a Church Diversity branch that includes different races, nationalities and ethnic
groups. Every Sunday, there are church services held in more than 80 different languages.
1 in every 4 Afro-Americans in the USA is a Southern Baptist. Our Convention has many
Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Hispanic, Vietnamese, Russian, and Philippine Churches
among others.
64

• It is one of the fastest Christian groups. The SBC baptizes more than 1,000 new
Christians every day in the USA and it starts 5 new churches every day on average.

Why not simply become an independent church?

YES! We are an independent church! Every Southern Baptist Church is completely independent.
There is no denominational control, or hierarchy, as in other denominations. Every Church is
autonomous and it makes its own decisions.

For example:

• It chooses its own Pastor.

• It possesses its own building.

• It determines its own programs.

What are the advantages of affiliating with the SBC?

1. It allows us to relate to other Christians around the world and to be known for our
dedication to the study of the Bible. Unlike some other groups, the SBC does not have
any creeds done by men, being the Bible its only source of authority.

2. It allows our Church to be part of the biggest missionary organization in the world.
Through the “Cooperative Program” of the SBC, we help more than 10,500 missionaries
in 134 countries around the world.

That is what makes us different from other denominations in the world.

65

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MEMBER?

The difference between “attendees” and “members” can be summarized in a single word:
COMMITMENT (Dedication). The difference between being an attendee at a church and being a
member is like the difference between a couple living together and a MARRIED couple. If you
are simply sharing a place with your partner and there is no commitment, either one of you can
leave at any time. Marriage on the other hand, means that you commit yourself to your partner in
order to have a lasting relationship.

At Vida Nueva we recognize the need of an official membership. We invite you to be

constituted a member for 4 reasons:

1. Biblical reason: Christ is devoted and committed to the Church.

“…just as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her” Ephesians 5:25

Occasionally, I hear people say, “I like Jesus, but I do not like the church” or “I commit myself to
Christ, but I do not want to commit myself to any church” or “I like Christ, but I do not think a
need a church.”

When people express this, I think that they say it for two reasons: The first reason is because they
do not know the church they attend very well. It is because the church does not give them a class
like the one taught at Vida Nueva. And the second reason is because they are, incredibly,
immature believers.

The more mature you grow as a Christian, the more you are going to love the church. The Bible
says that the church is Christ’s bride and Christ's body. What would you think if I said, “I like
you, but I do not like your body.” You would be offended by that. Or what would you think if I
said, “I like you, but I can not stand your wife.” I am sure you would get offended.

The Bible says that Jesus died for the church. He gave His life for her. The more Christ-like you
become the more you will be willing to give your life for the church. It is not perfect, but IT IS
what Jesus died for. If we are to be like Christ, we have to be committed to the church as much
as He is.

2. Cultural reason: It is an antidote for our society. We live at a time where very few people
want to be committed to something such as work, marriage, church, our country, etc. This
attitude has produced a generation of church marketing (Church-negotiating) and the church-
jumpers. These people go from one church to another every week. The membership sails against
the current of consumers of religion in America.

66

3. A practical reason: It defines who belongs to the membership.

Every team must have a list. Every school must have an admissions list. Every business must
have a payroll. Every army must have a recruiting list. Even our country carries out a census and
needs a record of the voters. The amount of members defines who is inside God’s family, the
church.

4. Personal reason: The quantity of members produces spiritual growth.

The New Testament emphasizes on every Christian’s spiritual growth. We cannot rely on you if
you do not dedicate and commit yourself to God’s family, the church.

We are not talking about simple rituals or organizations and we are not simply writing down your
name on a piece of paper that does not mean anything. We are talking about you taking a giant
step into your personal development. First, you commit your life to Christ. Then, you commit
your life to Christ's family, the body of believers. If you do not like, sharing with, or seeing other
Christians, then you are not going to heaven because in heaven that is all you are going to see,
Christians.

If you are not willing to commit to other Christians now, do you think that you will rejoice in
heaven?

WHAT IS EXPECTED FROM ME AS A MEMBER?

At Vida Nueva, we never ask our members to do more than what the Bible teaches us to do.

We only hope that our members do what the Bible expects from every Christian. These
responsibilities are well specified on our membership agreement.

67

MY MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT

After having received Christ as my Lord and Savior, and having been baptized and having
agreed with the mission, the vision, the strategies and Vida Nueva's structure, and after being
guided by the Holy Ghost to join the family of Vida Nueva's church, I commit myself to God and
to the rest of the membership to:

• Protect the unity of my church. Romans. 14:19

* Acting wit love towards other members. 1 Peter 1:22

* Refusing to gossip. Ephesians 4:29

* Following the leaders. Hebrews 13:17

• I will share my church’s responsibilities.

* Praying for its growth. 1 Thessalonians 1:1-2

* Inviting non-believers to attend this church. Luke 14:23

* Giving a cheerful greeting to those who visit us. Romans 5:7

• I will serve to the ministry of my church. 1 Peter 4:10

* Discovering my gifts and talents. Ephesians 4:11-12

* Preparing myself to serve along with the Pastor. Ephesians 4:11

* Developing a servant’s heart. Philippians 2:4-5, 7

• I will support my church’s testimony.

 * Attending faithfully. Hebrews 10:25

* Living a merciful life. Philippians 1:27

* Offering regularly. 1 Corinthians 16:2; Leviticus 27:30

MY NAME: _______________________________________________________________

DATE: ___________________________________________________________________

WITNESSES: ______________________________________________________________

68

All Biblical verses have been taken from the 1960 Kings Version, and from the New
International Version (NIV).

69

Currently, the Hispanic population, in the U.S., totals more than 40 million; and it is
estimated that for the year 2050 it will be about 100 million. Therefore; by that year, one in
every four Americans will be Hispanic! That is almost the same as the current population
in Mexico and even more than the current Central America’s population.

Comparing the number of churches against the Hispanic population we currently have,
we came to this conclusion: On our convention, for every 1.5 million Hispanics we have ten
churches, and the average attendance at our churches is fifty persons. This means that we
have an urgency to invite people to our church, to your house, and/or to any other place to
friendly share the Gospel to them.

It is impressive what the future holds for us and it will be a great challenge for all the
Hispanic churches in this nation. At Vida Nueva we need to be prepared for the big
challenges that await us. Consequently; it is our prayer, every day, that the Lord may
continue using us greatly to continue expanding His Kingdom.

Sincerely,

Pastor: Johnny Sangoquiza