At P2C - Students we help students take their next step towards Jesus. We hope to show others, through our lives and words, that Jesus is always good news. God’s mission is not just for a select few, but for anyone and everyone—and PULSE is designed to help you live on mission with Christ.
PULSE is a framework for growing in missional habits, because we believe that habits form far more than just our schedules; habits form our hearts.
As you go through the PULSE framework, you’ll see that it is centred on Jesus. These are habits that Jesus himself practised. They are both ways we can grow closer to him as well as reflect him to others. These habits are not a checklist, a set of one-size-fits-all practices, or a linear to-do list. Mostly, PULSE gives us a shared way of thinking about, talking about, and taking next steps towards living a life on mission with Christ together.
So, what does PULSE stand for?
You’ll find below a more in-depth look at each habit. We’ve included a Bible verse that tells us the importance of each practice, a heart posture that grounds each habit, and a vision of what a life lived on mission in each of these ways could look like. You’ll also find a few examples of what a next step could look like in each area – but they are just a few of the many possibilities! Every person’s next step could be (and probably will be!) different, but the hope is that even in all our different journeys, PULSE can help us see how we can be moving towards the heart of these habits together.
So, let’s go through each one:
We seek God first, partnering with him in prayer.
Prayer is central to the Christian life. It’s where we commune with God, bringing our lives and selves to him, and often, where he aligns our hearts to his. Prayer is also a powerful place where we engage in God’s mission. To paraphrase Lee Strobel, among others: “If God answered all of your prayers from the last week, would the world be different? Or just your life? Would there be anyone new in the kingdom of God?” As we seek God first, our heart and our prayers will reflect his heart for the world more and more.
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:9-10
Posture:
Seek God first
Partner with the Spirit in prayer for people and places
A life on mission looks like:
Praying for God’s kingdom to come, on earth as it is in heaven
Joining in prayer around God’s mission for the renewal of all things, people, and places
A next step in prayer could be:
Make a list of your non-Christian friends and pray for them once a week with others in your community. If the list is short, take the initiative to introduce yourself to someone new.
Pray daily for your friends. Make a list of 5 non-Christian friends and pray for one every day M-F.
Day to day, make note of the people and situations around you and how they need renewal and restoration in Christ. Pray towards this end as you go about your day or week.
Join a weekly prayer meeting on your campus.
We know God and are shaped by his heart for the world.
Union is the only word in the PULSE acronym that is not a verb. This is intentional! Union with God, a meaningful, personal relationship with God, is not just a checklist of actions to complete. God wants us to know him, be with him, and abide in him in real and transformative ways that impact every part of our lives – not just the “doing,” but the “being” as well.
Be still, and know that I am God.
Psalm 46:10
Posture:
Know God and orient ourselves to his heart
Be shaped and transformed by his heart for the world
A life on mission looks like:
Having our hearts renewed & transformed by knowing God
Understanding his heart of love for people and his mission of renewal in the world, through Scripture, prayer, and community
Recognizing the opportunities he gives us to join him in his mission
Partnering with the Spirit in this mission in our everyday lives and with the community of believers
A next step in union with God could be:
Do an introductory study with friends of what Scripture says about God's mission and his heart for people. (Recommended resource: Living on Mission series)
Once a week, reflect back and journal about the opportunities you've had to participate in God's mission: what they were, how they went, things to celebrate, things to learn from. Share with a friend or someone in your community.
Pray a daily examen looking for the presence and work of God, like this standard daily examen or this particular examen looking at how you saw others today.
Implement a daily Bible reading plan.
We journey with others as a learner.
Theologian David Ausberger once said, “Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.” In a culture that moves at the pace of a scrolling TikTok feed, few people take the time to slow down and hear what those around them have to say. Listening to someone else’s experience is a much-needed antidote to the polarization and isolation around us. As we listen, we can learn and discern what is in the hearts of our friends, and knowing this, we can serve them and echo the gospel to them in the ways that they most need. Listening as mission is perhaps more important now than ever.
The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.
Proverbs 20:5
Posture:
Seek to know and understand others
Journey with people well
A life on mission looks like:
Engaging well in conversation with others
Seeking to really know and understand people and their journeys
Asking sincere, good, and curious questions with the intention to learn
Loving others by listening attentively to them
A next step in listening could be:
Practise asking one deeper question to someone each week, listening well, and asking a follow-up question based on their response.
Have one “curious conversation” a week, where you are intentional to ask good questions and listen more than you speak. You could do this together with someone in your community!
Look for the values behind what a friend is sharing about their life, and reflect on how the gospel renews or fulfills that value.
Notice when you are not listening but just waiting for your turn to talk. Repent, and ask God for curiosity and care for the person sharing.
We go towards others in love.
Serving others may be the most recognizable part of life on mission with Christ. In our culture, connection and community show up as two of the biggest felt needs for so many. Specific ways of serving that we want to emphasize within this context are acts of hospitality, welcome, and connection, which serve the needs of our peers in real, tangible ways. Being someone who creates spaces for people to be known, and who takes the initiative to move towards others, is a way we can serve the needs of our world as it is right now.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16
Posture:
Go towards others in love
Be active in creating space to welcome, serve, and connect with others
A life on mission looks like:
Intentionally moving towards others
Taking the initiative to serve others, to be hospitable to them, to offer them connection.
Living lives that bear witness to the love and hospitality we have been shown in Christ
Creating space to journey with others
A next step in prayer could be:
Take the initiative to either host, co-host, invite, or serve others three times each week. Whenever possible, use these opportunities to introduce friends to one another who are at different parts of their spiritual journeys.
Think about your friend’s next step towards Jesus based on what you know about their spiritual journey. Invite them to an activity or a conversation adapted to that step.
Go when your friends invite you to something.
Find one way to welcome someone today: learn their name, invite them to lunch, have them over.
We experience and give voice to God’s story.
Echo reflects the idea that giving voice to God’s story requires both an “input” and an “output.” Recognizing God’s work in our lives and seeing how the gospel applies to our world are the input; speaking those truths to the people around us are the output. We echo God’s story to others because he is pouring his life into us first.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:20
Posture:
Experience God’s story in our own lives
Give voice to this story of renewal, as we see God at work in our own lives and around us
A life on mission looks like:
Being aware of the everyday ways that God is active in our lives
Seeing how the gospel applies and connects to our world
Sharing authentically about how God’s story intersects our own
Echoing the ways we see God in our lives to others, that they may see him too
A next step in prayer could be:
Share with a mentor, friend or small group about how the gospel is good news to you in your life right now.
Once a week, share with a non-Christian one simple way that God's story is good news for you and them.
Clearly share the gospel or an aspect of the gospel with a friend in a way that is relevant to their journey.
When you recognize a theme or issue in the culture around you, stop to think about how the gospel applies to it. Why does the gospel offer a better answer than the world? Share this in your next conversation around that topic.
What’s your next step?
Our hope is that the PULSE framework can be a tool to help you, wherever you are in your journey, know how to take a next faithful step to live on mission with Christ. We hope that these habits help take a concept that can feel abstract (“life on mission”) and make it feel a lot more practical and doable!
We believe that God can work in even a small step to build just one of these habits, and use it to form our hearts to be more like him!
As you read through this framework, was there one area that stuck out to you that you might want to take a next step in?
If so, the right next step for you might look like taking something you already do, and making a slight tweak to make it more missional. It might look like establishing a new practice, on your own or in your community. It might look like taking some time to ask God what he would have you do! Whatever it is, we’d love for you to take that next step!
