Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Weekly sermons from our Central Lutheran Church preaching team plus quick reflections from Pastor Ryan Braley. Real talk, ancient wisdom, and honest questions — all designed to help you learn, grow, and find encouragement when you need it most. At Central, our mission is simple: FOLLOW Jesus together, be a community where you BELONG, and LOVE our neighbors across the street and around the world. Think deeper. Live freer. Share an episode with a friend and visit us in person anytime — you’re always welcome here in Elk River, MN.
Episodes
A playoff roar at Mile High flipped a switch I thought I’d retired. One moment I was soaking up the energy, the next I felt the old tribal surge—defend the colors, clap back at the chirps, claim the space as “ours.” Nothing exploded on the outside, but inside I could feel a younger version of me take the wheel. That jolt became a mirror: how quickly identity can hitch itself to a jersey, a chant, or a crowd and forget...
A dramatic Bible story where two people fall dead might sound like a scare tactic, but the real punch lands somewhere deeper: what kind of community forms when the Spirit fills ordinary people? We walk through Acts 5 and the unsettling account of Ananias and Sapphira to uncover a hopeful, tangible vision of the kingdom of God—one where grace becomes groceries, rent, rides, and real presence.
We start with Jes...
Stuck between two bad choices that both feel wrong? We’ve been there too. Today we talk about the subtle art of finding a third way—an approach modeled by Jesus that refuses shallow binaries and restores nuance, courage, and care for people. Instead of choosing between silence or shouting, canceling or condoning, we slow down and study two famous Gospel moments where a trap demanded a yes or no, and wisdom answered wi...
Faith gets brittle when we pretend. This week we lean into a braver way: arguing with Scripture as an act of honor and bringing our full selves to God without a filter. We open the Psalms not as tidy theology, but as a school of prayer where the human heart learns to speak truth—joy, sorrow, rage, and all.
Together we walk through Psalm 137, set in the ashes of exile. Judah hangs up its harps by Babylon’s riv...
What if we’ve been asking the wrong questions about the flood? Instead of debating water heights and global maps, we step into the ancient world that first carried this story and ask what they were trying to remember about God, themselves, and the shape of a good life. The conversation opens with a personal miracle and then widens to the tensions we all feel when modern sensibilities crash into ancient narratives.
The phrase “generational curses” can feel like a verdict you didn’t choose. We take that fear head-on, unpacking what those Old Testament passages actually communicate and why Ezekiel’s voice reframes the conversation around personal responsibility, practical hope, and real change. Rather than a mystical hex, we explore how family systems, trauma, and learned behaviors create momentum that can be redirected with clari...
What if the stories you love sound different once you hear them in their own world? We kick off the year by naming a blind spot many of us carry: we read an ancient Near Eastern text through modern Western eyes, and those assumptions quietly rewrite meaning. So we slow down, step into first-century streets, and let place, language, and culture do their work.
We start with Jesus’ trade. The Greek word “tecton”...
A story about plagues, power, and a stubborn king turns out to be a mirror we can’t ignore. We dive into the hard question behind Exodus: what does it mean for Pharaoh’s heart to be hardened—and what does that say about free will, evil, and the kind of people we’re becoming?
We start where Scripture starts: with a God who makes room for life and entrusts humans with real agency. Israel’s growth embodies that ...
One question can reveal the health of any leader faster than a résumé or a mission statement: who can tell you no and have it stick? We explore that question through a memorable YWAM story about founder Lauren Cunningham and a donor who used this single test to decide where to entrust a major gift. The contrast is stark: leaders who claimed no one could overrule them lost credibility, while the leader who named specif...
A knife raised, a breath held, and then a voice that changes everything. We take on Genesis 22 with clear eyes, a bit of humor, and a lot of courage, asking what kind of God would command a sacrifice—and what kind of God would stop it. Moving beyond Sunday school gloss, we map the Bronze Age world where sacrifice was normal, then trace how this story flips that script and invites a deeper trust. Along the way, we lean...
What if the most faithful prayer you can pray sounds like a complaint? We lean into Jesus’ searing words from the cross—“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”—and ask what it means to tell the truth about suffering without reaching for easy answers. Rather than treating Psalm 22 as a shortcut to positivity, we explore why letting Good Friday be dark actually strengthens hope, because it refuses to pretend that ev...
What if the most hopeful moment of the year isn’t pristine at all—but stubbornly, beautifully human? We take John’s bold opening—“the Word became flesh”—and bring it down to ground level, where sarks means breath, weight, warmth and the noise of ordinary life. No porcelain nativity here. We talk about the Logos, the logic and design of creation, moving into our neighborhood and sitting right at the table with burned d...
What if the heart of Christmas isn’t a slammed door but a home that made space when it mattered most? We take a fresh, text-driven look at the Nativity and discover how a single Greek word—kataluma—shifts the scene from a hostile inn to a crowded family guest room in Bethlehem. That shift reframes everything: instead of rejection, we see courageous hospitality that risked reputation to welcome a scandal-marked couple ...
Ever caught yourself writing a whole tragic novel because someone didn’t text back? We dive into that gap between message and reply, the story machine in our heads, and the quiet panic that follows. I share a vulnerable moment with a close friend, how my mind spun up five different worst-case plots, and the simple check-in that brought the truth to light. Along the way, we unpack why silence is such fertile ground for...
The darkest days of the year have a way of revealing what we hope for most. As the sun seems to stand still at the winter solstice, we explore how the early church met Celtic communities who celebrated the return of light and discovered a powerful bridge: the birth of Jesus as the moment when light begins to grow again. Rather than trivia about December 25, we follow a lived story where earth, season, and scripture al...
A teenage girl sings, and suddenly the world’s balance tilts. We dive into Mary’s Magnificat not as a cozy carol, but as a revolutionary anthem that names a new order where the proud are scattered, the lowly are lifted, and the hungry are finally filled. Framed by the surprising power of music — from ancient instruments to Christmas classics — we trace how this bold song declared future justice as if it were already p...
Hunger isn’t an abstract statistic when it lands on your block. With SNAP benefits tightening for millions of Americans, we ask a pointed question: what does a faithful, practical response look like for local churches right now? Rather than wading into policy battles, we reach back to the early church’s playbook—Acts 2 generosity—and pair it with modern, relational solutions that meet real needs week by week.
The hardest part of waiting isn’t the clock—it’s the uncertainty that pulls at your nerves and the loss of control that makes every minute feel heavier. We open the door to that tension and walk through it together, blending neuroscience, a fresh look at the Stanford marshmallow test, and an ancient story that refuses to blink in the face of delay.
You’ll hear why patience isn’t just willpower and why trust t...
Ever notice how some arguments leave you colder, even when one side seems technically correct? We dive into why being “right” can still ring hollow when it’s cut off from love, humility, and a life that actually bears good fruit. Starting with Jesus’ words in John 5, we look at how religious experts could memorize scripture yet miss the Living Word standing before them—and how that same pattern shows up whenever we we...
The manger looks calm, but the choices behind it were anything but. We kick off Advent by stepping into Joseph’s story and asking a bold question: why does a quiet carpenter keep picking the hardest road when every easier option is on the table? From the legal realities of ancient betrothal to the social fallout of a “quiet divorce,” we retrace Joseph’s dilemma and the moment an angel’s message turned a hard path into...
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