The words from Romans, Chapter 5 flashed on the screen above the stage: "... suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."

"That's what God wants to see," Pastor Ron Sebesta of The Light at Mission Viejo told his congregation on Santa Fe's south side during a recent Sunday morning sermon.

Sometimes life is tough and you will want to "hang up and quit," he admitted. But perseverance is necessary for success and survival. Don't give up. Keep your eyes on the prize.

Sebesta, casually dressed in khakis and a button-down shirt and with a hands-free microphone on his head, delivers a version of this message of encouragement and support weekly to 200 or more congregants from the new neighborhoods near the church and from as far away as Los Alamos and Cochiti Lake.

"People are spiritually hungry. They're looking for a spiritual family in a church home, a place to be loved and accepted and encouraged, a place to worship and be taught the word," he said.

Since moving to South Richards Avenue from Cordova Road and Don Gaspar Avenue in late 2006, membership in The Light at Mission Viejo has increased to more than 300 households and the congregation has outgrown the multi-purpose room used for Sunday services.

By Easter, the church hopes to be worshipping in a new 75-foot by 100-foot sanctuary that is part of a 20,000-square-foot expansion, a financial undertaking that member Sam Lucero calls "an extreme step out in faith."

The new sanctuary has a baptistry — for full immersion baptisms — and a stage for the worship team of singers and musicians (electric guitar, keyboards, drums and bass) who lead the hymns. There are two large movie screens on either side of the stage where the words to songs and the pastor's message will be projected, along with soothing images of mountain lakes and ocean shores. Outside the sanctuary, there are three kiosks set under the tiled arches where visitors will be welcomed and where everyone will be able to get a cup of coffee to sip in the fireside area while looking out the windows toward the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

The original, mission-style facility — 28,000 square feet on 16 acres not far from Santa María de la Paz Catholic Community — included a school and offices, as well as an auditorium for worship services.

"We wanted to target a younger generation. Most of the growth was in the 35-year-old age group," Sebesta said. But state law, he added, requires a high school to have at least 10 acres. The old site was only 5 acres.

Today, the school has 170 students in pre-K through the eighth grade and plans to add ninth grade at the start of the next school year. The expansion includes science labs for high-school students.

In addition to Sunday worship services, The Light offers an array of other ministries such as Bible study, a youth group and services in Spanish. Once a month, members of the congregation travel by van to Palomas, Mexico, bringing food and clothes to an orphanage there.

"If you want to do something more with your life, you can certainly get plugged in here," Sebesta said.

Many of these new members are looking for help with their marriages, raising children and getting out of debt, Sebesta said, adding that fortunately, "Christianity is a very practical religion." His challenge, he said, is, "taking a message from 2,000 years ago and making it relevant today."

In the economic downtown, more than ever, people are turning to their faith to sustain them, said Don Montoya, an elder in the church. "People are hurting; people are out of work; they're in pain; they're looking for help." Dozens of them are filling out the prayer request forms left on seats at the Sunday service each week. "Prayer is very important these days," Montoya emphasized.

Sebesta was a real-estate broker and general contractor in Santa Fe before becoming pastor of the church. "Real estate was good to me," he admitted. His financial success enabled him to retire in 1991 at age 43. But soon, he said, "It felt like the Lord began speaking to me about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life," he said. "I didn't want to be remembered as a successful broker. I felt there was more to life than that. I wanted to leave a mark. The Lord has done so much in my life."

Sebesta, a former Green Beret, was raised in the Roman Catholic faith but was so "anti-church" that when he and his wife, Nina, married in 1970, the ceremony was held in Hyde Park.

But that year he also said he "received Jesus as my savior," and, "all the struggles I had with drugs, alcohol, all that changed. My life was transformed." In 1981, he and Nina began attending church with some friends at Capital Christian. The experience was a "breath of fresh air," Sebesta said. He started a jail ministry, and spent every Tuesday night for 12 years "talking to guys about the same problems I struggled with."

Sebesta was asked to fill the pulpit when the pastor moved away, and in 1997 became the full-time pastor. (Nina Sebesta heads the women's ministry.) He never attended seminary, but found that he had an "insatiable appetite for the word of God." He listened to other preachers and developed his own style.

His message, he said, is "one of hope and encouragement and not condemnation. I try to build people up who (might) feel beaten up six days of the week on the job. When Jesus met with people, he was also tender, merciful, full of compassion. That's the way I try to be."

The church is a welcoming one, said Lucero, who moved with his wife to Rancho Viejo four years ago. "We don't care about your background. You are a child of God and we accept you," he said. The couple tried a number of churches (including one where not one person said "good morning" to them) before settling on The Light.

Manuel Lucero, 47, said he recently started attending services at The Light because he is searching for "a deeper relationship with my spiritual faith walk" and a community to "inspire me during my challenges."

Ami Bickley, 17, and her sister, Penni, 16, who help lead the congregation in songs as part of the upbeat "worship team," both said they find support for their own faith journeys.

"If we're struggling, we get to share that with one another and lift each other up," Penni Bickley said. And at The Light, her sister added, it's not about what you're doing wrong. "Here, you're doing a good job," she said.

Contact Anne Constable at 986-3022 or aconstable@sfnewmexican.com.