Skip to content
The Next Step Community

The Next Step Community

We help you take a next step.

Search
  • For MeHere you can find real life stories of next step discipleship and tools that support your faith walk. Real help from real people can help you delight in taking your personal next step.
  • For My FriendsWe follow Jesus better when we follow him together. You need resources for your discpling relationships. The stories and ideas will help you follow Jesus with someone on your rope.
  • For My ChurchWe all need a place to belong. Having a faith family helps us follow Jesus. And sometimes, our faith families need some help as they resource the journey of faith. Get some fresh ideas here.
  • Discipling LeadersYou can’t lead if you don’t follow. Here you will find insight, encouragement, support, and resources to help you follow Jesus as you help others follow Jesus, too.
  • AboutThe Next Step community is dedicated to helping people help each other delight in taking a next step follow Jesus. Get to know our thinking, our philosophy, and our heart.

Author: Valerie Matyas

Advent…

A Visual Advent Calendar

15 Nov 202015 Nov 2020
Editor's note: This blog originally is adapted from Introduction to Light in the Darkness: A Hymn Journal for Advent & Christmas (c) 2020 Next Step Press. Used by permission. By…
Discipleship Tools…

Scripture Doodle Video Tutorial

24 Aug 2020
By Valerie Matyas You may have heard of Bible Journaling, Devotional Journaling or Scripture Doodles. You may have seen art in the margin of Bibles, gracing the squares of desktop…
Discipleship Tools…

Rock of Help Video Tutorial

11 Aug 2020
By Valerie Matyas Each chapter of  Ponder Anew: A Hymn Journal for Trust and Confidence includes an experiment of some sort to help you take a small next step in…
Discipleship Tools…

Ponder Anew Hymn Journal Book Tabs

4 Aug 20206 Dec 2020
By Valerie Matyas What a journey we are having together! To celebrate our Summer of 2020 adventure, Next Step Press is delighted to offer you Book Tabs for your Hymn…
Discipleship Tools…

Lettering Video Tutorial, Part 2

28 Jul 202028 Jul 2020
By Valerie Matyas Flipping through the resource Ponder Anew: A Hymn Journal for Trust and Confidence you might notice the variety of lettering the artists used as part of their…
Discipling Leaders…

Express: Appreciate Your Group

20 Jul 202017 Jan 2021
By Valerie Matyas Note: this blog is the fourth in a four-part series for Small Group Leaders: Invite, Equip, Explore, Express. Sign up here to receive more small group resources.…
Discipleship Tools…

Paperclip Embellishment Video Tutorial

18 Jul 202020 Jul 2020
By Valerie Matyas Embellished paperclips are used in the creative journaling world to mark pages, bedazzle Bibles, as conversation starters, and opportunities to spread love and joy. Whether you are…
Discipleship Tools…

Napkin Technique Video Tutorial

7 Jul 20207 Jul 2020
By Valerie Matyas I will be honest; when I first heard of the napkin technique in 2015 I was more than a bit skeptical. Why in the world would I…
Discipleship Tools…

Lettering Video Tutorial, Part 1

30 Jun 20207 Jul 2020
By Valerie Matyas If you flip through the book Ponder Anew: A Hymn Journal for Trust and Confidence you will quickly notice how often the artists use lettering as part…
Discipleship Tools…

Tip-In/Tip-Out Video Tutorial

23 Jun 2020
By Valerie Matyas In the “How to Use This Book” section of Ponder Anew: A Hymn Journal for Trust and Confidence, I offered six different ideas or launching points to…
Discipling Leaders…

Explore: Engage Your Group

7 Jun 20207 Jun 2020
By Valerie Matyas Note: this blog is the third of a four-part series for Small Group Leaders: Invite, Equip, Explore, Express. Sign up here to receive more small group resources.…
Discipling Leaders…

Equip: They Said Yes! (Now What?)

31 May 202031 May 2020
By Valerie Matyas Note: this blog is the second of a four-part series for Small Group Leaders: Invite, Equip, Explore, Express. Sign up here to receive more small group resources.…
Discipling Leaders…

Invite: Get the Small Group Ball Rolling

21 May 202021 May 2020
By Valerie Matyas Note: this blog is the first of a four-part series for Small Group Leaders: Invite, Equip, Explore, Express. Sign up here to receive more small group resources.…
Discipleship Tools…

Hymn Journal Book Tabs

6 Apr 20209 Jun 2020
By Valerie Matyas Happy Holy Week! In celebration of Holy Week 2020, Next Step Press is delighted to offer you Book Tabs for your Hymn Journal. The Book Tabs were…
Discipleship Tools…

Dining Room Sanctuary

27 Mar 202028 Dec 2020
By Valerie Matyas This weekend we embark on Round 2 of social distancing at home worship. I will admit, last Sunday was rough.  Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful…
Cultural Studies…

A Bit O’Levity Amid the Uncertainty

17 Mar 202027 Mar 2020
By Valerie Matyas A healthy dose of imagination and creativity runs through the blood of my first grader. He likes adventures, stories, building, and drawing. Before the COVID-19 school closure,…
Discipleship Tools…

Permission Granted

25 Feb 202010 Jun 2020
By Valerie Matyas In the creative journaling world there is something called a “Permission Page” or a “Dedication Page.” This opening sheet is typically found at the beginning of a…
Advent…

The Stained Glass Prayer

12 Dec 201920 Mar 2020
Sometimes in life you need hacks. Not because you are cutting corners, but because the common way or familiar way is cumbersome, messy, or ineffective. Cleaning hacks, organizing hacks, classroom…

Posts navigation

Older posts

Delight! Discipleship as the Adventure of Loving and Being Loved by Justin Rossow

🏆 2020 BIBA Christian Winner!

  • Find out more
  • Buy Delight! on Amazon
  • Facebook Live Book Reading

Come, Holy Spirit:
A Daily Discipleship Travel Log for Easter to Pentecost 

  • Find Out More
  • Buy on Amazon
  • Get the Large Print Edition
  • Join the Facebook Social Learning Group

 

The Emotional Devotional: Following Jesus in Every Emotion

  • Written and Illustrated by Teenage Girls, for Teenage Girls
  • Find out more
  • Buy on Amazon
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Partners

Breathe Life Ministries
Brett Jordan
Visual Faith Ministry

 

Patrons

Support a next step: become a
Next Step patron today.

 

 

 

 

 

Next Step on Patreon

Brought to you by


www.findmynextstep.org

  • Delight by Justin Rossow
  • Jesus at the Center of My Messy Life
  • Light in the Darkness