The Next Step Community

The Next Step Community is a group of people, like you, who need other people to help them take a next step following Jesus. You won’t find any preconceived notions or quick fixes here; just real people trying to follow Jesus in real life. You are welcome to join in!

About

As The Next Step Community, we are sold out on helping each other delight in taking a next step following Jesus. Not everyone is going to resonate with our values or our basic vibe, and that’s OK; we believe having a variety of options is the best way to sustain…Continue reading “About”

Faith Experiment…

#Lenten Walk, Week 4

22 Mar 202322 Mar 2023

By Alli Bauck If anyone is keeping track, we are over halfway through the Lenten season. (Resurrection Sunday is getting closer!!!) For me, personally, the last eleven days have been…

You Go; and I’ll Walk with You

17 Mar 202317 Mar 2023

By Justin Rossow Our mailbox is 0.7 miles from our front door. It used to be 7 feet. Since our last move, getting the mail has become more than a…

Faith Experiment…

#Lenten Walk, Week … What?

16 Mar 202316 Mar 2023

By Alli Bauck This week felt like one step forward, two steps back. As Spring makes its anticipated arrival to the Kansas City area, the forecast last week was a…

Discipling Leaders

Needing Jesus, Every Day

13 Mar 202313 Mar 2023

Desperately Needing Jesus, Every Day A sermon preached at the installation of Pastor Sam Fink at Heart of the Shepherd Lutheran Church, Howell, Michigan, 12 March 2023. By Justin Rossow…

Faith Experiment…

#Lenten Walk, Week 2

By Alli Bauck Wow. Podcasts are e-v-e-r-y-where! I started out my #Lentenwalk with a varied list of podcasts (see my first Lenten Walk blog); however, my Spotify library has doubled…

Faith Experiment…

My CEF Faith Calendar

4 Mar 20234 Mar 2023

By Justin Rossow I wrote this article for the March, 2023 Michigan In Touch insert to the Lutheran Witness magazine. Thanks to the good people at Michigan Church Extension Fund…

Living With the Laughing God

3 Mar 20231 Mar 2023

By Kristeen Bruun On my wall hangs a plaque that a friend engraved for me. It says, “Want to make God laugh? Tell God your plans!” I certainly must believe…

Faith Experiment…

#Lenten Walk, Week 1

1 Mar 20231 Mar 2023

By Alli Bauck While visiting with a friend on the phone last night, she asked me how my Lenten walk practice was going. I laughed and reported that on the…

Cultural Studies…

Ozymandias

By Kim Longden Ozymandias is one of my favorite poems to use as an interpretive reading exercise with the kids. In it, a traveler describes the ruins of a statue…

Faith Experiment…

Lenten Walk

23 Feb 202323 Feb 2023

By Alli Bauck I placed the rectangular box on the table and ceremoniously lifted the lid. A brand new pair of tennis shoes was waiting inside. Peeling back the packing…

For My Friends…

Lord, to whom shall we go?

22 Feb 202322 Feb 2023

By Rachel Hinz “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Peter says this to Jesus after hearing some really difficult stuff. Confusing, hard stuff.…

Bottled Up

20 Feb 202320 Feb 2023

From a Fellow Traveler For a spirit to be defined as bourbon, it must meet five very specific criteria: it must be made in the United States; aging has to…

Rosemary

10 Jan 202310 Jan 2023

By Kristeen A. Bruun By the rivers of Babylon I sat and wept...How could I sing the song of the Lord in a foreign land? Paraphrase of Psalm 137:1, 4…

Top Blogs from 2022

30 Dec 202230 Dec 2022

2022 was another engaging year for the Next Step Community blog! Close to 12,000 visitors viewed our discipling content almost 19,000 times over the last 12 months. Here are some…

Messy Christmas

24 Dec 202224 Dec 2022

By Justin Rossow It’s Christmas Eve, and my daughter was supposed to be home three days ago. She made it to the Minneapolis airport. She made it onto the plane.…

Christmas Lights in the Dark

15 Dec 202215 Dec 2022

By Kim Longden I have always loved Christmas lights. Some of my most treasured childhood memories are driving around as a family oohing and aahing at houses all decked out…

The Christmas Cardinal

13 Dec 202211 Dec 2022

By Raelyn Pracht Growing up, we always decorated the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. My father would string the lights on the tree and wrap it in shiny, silver…

Exegetical Study

Jesus, Son of Solomon

11 Dec 202211 Dec 2022

Extended Edition By Justin Rossow and Conrad Gempf I was asked to talk about Jesus as the "son of Solomon" in a devotion for Day 11 of this video devotion…