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…

RAIN-ing with Jesus

By Naomi Rossow I have been seeing my current therapist for about six months now. She is amazing, and we have been able to work through a lot together as…

ADVENTURE!

22 Jun 202223 Jun 2022

By Katie Helmreich My daughter, Elise, just turned 13. It’s a big deal. So we decided to celebrate with a big adventure! Elise and I headed North for a two-day canoe…

Exegetical Study

The god in My Pocket

15 Jun 202214 Jun 2022

By Justin Rossow A friend of mine has a collection of artifacts from the Holy Land in his office, including a woven basket full of household gods. These crude figurines…

Our Next (Hard) Project

By Katie Helmreich Ben and I are project people. We've been building things together since our early dating days (some twenty years ago) and haven't really stopped since! Our next project…

Cultural Studies…

Take My Moments and My Days

8 Jun 20228 Jun 2022

By Katie Helmreich My alarm went off at 5:50 this morning. I hit snooze a few times, but then I remembered today's the day I'd arranged to swap kid-free hours…

Exegetical Study…

Money, in a Fish

7 Jun 20228 Jun 2022

By Kim Longden When my oldest son was little, we read from the Beginner’s Bible each night at bedtime. One night we opened up to a story entitled “Money in…

Exegetical Study

Faithful Change

By Ted Hopkins In my last post, I ended by saying faithfulness to Jesus leads us to faithful change, despite our deep and abiding reluctance to do so. In that…

Authentic Imitators

Created to Create, Part 3 By Visual Faith® Coach Valerie Matyas for the 2022 Creative Haven Retreat Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as…

Courage for a Small Step

By Katie Helmreich My 5-year-old, Jane, has been looking forward to the end of year Preschool field trip for ages! "We get to go do gymnastics, Mom! Gymnastics!!" So we carefully counted…

Concrete or Abstract?

Created to Create, Part 2 By Visual Faith® Coach Valerie Matyas for the 2022 Creative Haven Retreat Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have…

Cultural Studies…

Helpless Waiting

2 May 20222 May 2022

By Justin Rossow This Easter I was struck by a detail I don’t remember seeing before. In fact, I didn’t even see it this year until my second or third…

Cultural Studies…

Change? Who Said Anything about Change?

26 Apr 202226 Apr 2022

By Ted Hopkins Almost every Lutheran knows the old joke about how many Lutherans it takes to change a light bulb. “Change? Who said anything about change?” After an initial…

Reflecting Beauty

Created to Create, Part 1 By Visual Faith® Coach Valerie Matyas for the 2022 Creative Haven Retreat In the beginning God created the heavens and earth. Genesis 1:1 (ESV) Human…

Discipleship Tools…

Family Devotion Calendar

18 Apr 202213 Apr 2022

By Justin Rossow Our mission at Next Step Press is to cultivate the kinds of people and resources that help you delight in taking a next step following Jesus. In…

Exegetical Study

Good Friday and God’s Failure

15 Apr 202227 May 2022

By Justin Rossow Of course, we know the big picture. We have the benefit of hindsight, and we know that the open tomb is just around the corner. Of course,…

Exegetical Study…

It is Finished; and …

6 Apr 202213 Apr 2022

By Justin Rossow The last words of Jesus on the cross hold deep comfort and promise. And Jesus is still at work, for us. I recently received some concerned feedback…

My Song is Love Unknown

4 Apr 20226 Apr 2022

The Next Step PodcastSeason 1: When from Death I'm FreeEpisode 14: "My Song is Love Unknown"Date: 4 April 2022Guest: Alli BauckThe Next Step Podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and Amazon…

Exegetical Study

The Miracle of the Floating Axhead

24 Mar 202224 Mar 2022

The company of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, where each of…