The TakeAway

Pastor Harry Behrens
  • 5.0 (11)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Weekly

The Takeaway is a verse-by-verse teaching podcast devoted to helping believers see the glory of God revealed through His Word. Each episode walks carefully through Scripture—unpacking the command that confronts us, the revelation that exposes us, the grace that rescues us, and the glory that transforms us.

  1. 4d ago

    John 12:20-33 What Did Jesus Mean by ‘I Will Draw All People’?

    Send us Fan Mail “I will draw all people to myself” sounds simple until you try to define “all.” That’s where we start, with John 12:32 and the question many of us either avoid or fight over: does Jesus draw everyone to salvation, draw some, or only make salvation possible if we choose it?  I keep this anchored in the Gospel of John instead of letting a theological label hand us the answer in advance.  We name the familiar camps Calvinism, Arminianism, and Universalism, but then we slow down and ask what we rarely ask out loud: what did it cost Jesus to be the One who does the drawing? From the “brackish water” tension of old nature and new nature, to the slow work of sanctification and the renewal of the mind, we talk about why spiritual maturity changes how we read Scripture without changing whether we’re truly alive in Christ.  Then we do something practical: we walk backward through John 12, one verse at a time. “The ruler of this world cast out” becomes broken dominion, not a disappeared enemy. The Father’s glory is displayed in history through the hour Jesus steps into with a troubled soul. And finally, two Greeks arrive with a plain request: “We wish to see Jesus.” That moment gives “all people” a real face and a human scale, pointing to all peoples without distinction Jew and Gentile alike while keeping God’s drawing personal and effective.  If you’ve ever wondered what the Bible teaches about salvation, effectual calling, the sufficiency of the cross, and what it means that God establishes your steps, you’ll find clarity here. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show. What do you think Jesus means by “all people”? Support the show Please visit www.thetakeaway.faith for more resources, books or to send us a message

    John 12:20-33 What Did Jesus Mean by ‘I Will Draw All People’?

  2. Sep 1

    John 12:12-19 Why Can't I See What God Is Doing?

    Send us Fan Mail You can be standing in the middle of God’s work and still have no idea what He is doing. That’s not a character flaw, and John 12 proves it. As we walk through John 12:12-19, we watch Palm Sunday unfold with palm branches, Scripture-soaked shouts, and a King who chooses a donkey instead of a warhorse, and we ask the question most of us are afraid to say out loud: why does God’s plan feel impossible to read while we’re living it?  We dig into the meaning of “Hosanna” from Psalm 118, not as a vague religious cheer but as an urgent plea: “Save now, we beg you.” That single word becomes a quiet confession of repentance, admitting we cannot save ourselves. We also connect the Triumphal Entry to Zechariah’s prophecy and the crowd’s expectations, showing how people can say true things about Jesus while still missing the kind of salvation He brings and the cost of the cross.  Then we follow the thread Scripture gives us: Lazarus’s resurrection drawing a crowd, pushing opposition, and accelerating the road to Calvary, all under Jesus’ own authority and timing. The disciples themselves only understand later, after Jesus is glorified, which reframes our own seasons of confusion, suffering, and waiting. Faith is not pretending we see the whole mechanism; it is trusting the God we know when the stage is still being set.  If you’ve been asking where God is in your story, listen, share this with a friend who needs patience, and then subscribe and leave a review so more people can find the show. What part of God’s timing is hardest for you to trust right now? Support the show Please visit www.thetakeaway.faith for more resources, books or to send us a message

    John 12:12-19 Why Can't I See What God Is Doing?

  3. Aug 25

    John 11:55-12:11 Why do you come to Jesus?

    Send us Fan Mail Why do you come to Jesus? Not the church answer. Not the answer you were taught to say. The real one that shows up in your life once the sermon ends and the week begins. We open John 11:55 through John 12:11 and watch a room fill with very different motives around the same Savior. As Passover nears, Jerusalem buzzes with speculation about whether Jesus will show up, while an arrest order hangs over Him. Back in Bethany, a dinner is set, Lazarus is simply alive at the table, and Mary pours out pure nard worth a year’s wages to anoint Jesus’ feet. That act of costly worship is not a vibe or a moment, it is a heart laid bare. Then the contrast sharpens. Judas objects with what sounds like charity, but John exposes the hidden math of personal gain. The crowd becomes the most relatable group: a mixture of genuine belief and spectacle-seeking, sitting side by side. And looming behind it all is Ezekiel 33, a warning about people who love to hear the Word yet refuse to do it, turning faith into entertainment instead of transformation. I end with a simple test you can take into Monday: does what you hear actually change how you live, speak, and treat people, or does it stay behind in the room where you heard it? If you want worship that costs something and discipleship that reaches your real life, press play, then subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review so more people can wrestle with the same question. Support the show Please visit www.thetakeaway.faith for more resources, books or to send us a message

    John 11:55-12:11 Why do you come to Jesus?

  4. Aug 18

    John 11:38-54 If God Is Love, Why Does He Allow Suffering? Part 3: The Resurrection

    Send us Fan Mail A dead man walks out of a tomb, and the most startling detail is that Jesus is still visibly grieving while he does it. We sit in John 11:38–54 at the exact moment this three-part series has been moving toward, and we face the question behind the question: if God is love, what does his love look like when suffering is real, irreversible, and personal? We trace the scene step by step: Martha’s honest objection, Jesus’ insistence on seeing the glory of God, and a public prayer that is not a plea for power but a declaration meant to produce belief. Then the miracle lands with a strange command that sounds simple and ends up reshaping discipleship: “Unbind him and let him go.” We talk about why Lazarus can be fully alive and still wrapped, why sanctification is a process, and why God designs the unwrapping to happen in community through low, patient, practical service. Finally, we look at the split response to the same sign, from worship to betrayal, and we connect it to the wider story of human authority, repercussions, justice, and hope. From Caiaphas’ unintended gospel prophecy to promises like Romans 8:28 and Revelation 21:4, we land on a faith that does not pretend evil never happened, but trusts that grief will not have the last word when redemption is complete. If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who is hurting, and leave a review so more people can find the series. Support the show Please visit www.thetakeaway.faith for more resources, books or to send us a message

    John 11:38-54 If God Is Love, Why Does He Allow Suffering? Part 3: The Resurrection

  5. Aug 11

    John 11:17-37 If God Is Love, Why Does He Allow Suffering? Part 2: The Grief

    Send us Fan Mail Grief doesn’t wait for a convenient time, and neither do the questions it brings. When tragedy hits, we instinctively ask: If God is love, why does He allow suffering, and if God is sovereign, how can evil exist without making Him its author? Pastor Harry Behrens keeps those questions on the table and then tightens the focus to what the Bible actually says about justice, mercy, human responsibility, and the nature of evil.  We start with a difficult reset that confronts modern assumptions: Scripture does not treat us as people who are owed a suffering-free life. From Romans and Ephesians, we talk about sin, wrath, and grace, and why the gospel is not God meeting an obligation but God giving mercy that was never deserved. Then we correct a common Christian expectation that coming to Christ should make the hard things go away, looking at Jesus’ own words about tribulation and Paul’s “thorn” as an example of purpose in weakness.  From there, we draw a crucial distinction for anyone wrestling with the problem of evil: moral evil versus calamity. Using James 1:13, Isaiah 45:7, and Job 2:10, we explore how God can be sovereign over disaster without being morally wicked, and why collapsing those categories either blames God for sin or turns Him into a passive observer. Finally, we return to John 11 and watch Jesus meet Martha with truth and Mary with tears. “Jesus wept” becomes the clearest picture of a God who enters suffering on purpose and still holds the authority to undo it.  If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend walking through grief, and leave a review so more people can find the conversation. What question about suffering are you carrying right now? Support the show Please visit www.thetakeaway.faith for more resources, books or to send us a message

    John 11:17-37 If God Is Love, Why Does He Allow Suffering? Part 2: The Grief

  6. Aug 4

    John 11:1-16 If God Is Love, Why Does He Allow Suffering? Part 1: The Delay

    Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever prayed for God to step in and felt the silence stretch on, John 11 can feel almost unbearable. Jesus hears that Lazarus, His dear friend, is dying. He loves Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. He has the power to heal. And He still waits. That one detail forces a question many of us carry quietly: if God is able and God is love, why does He sometimes choose delay instead of rescue? We walk line by line through John 11:1–16 and trace the pattern John keeps repeating: suffering becomes the stage where God’s works are displayed and the Son is glorified. But this time the “sign” isn’t a restoration, it’s a reversal. We also tackle a deeper issue behind the debate: is God’s glory at odds with God’s love, or are they the same reality from two angles? Along the way, we connect the dots to Job, where Scripture refuses to excuse evil with neat explanations and warns us against defending God by making Him smaller. This message doesn’t ask you to call horror “good.” It names evil as evil, points to the promise of Revelation 21:4, and lands on the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept.” God does not watch your pain from a safe distance. He enters it, grieves with you, and calls His people to do the same for one another when words fail. If you know someone hurting, or you’re the one hurting, listen, share this with a friend, and subscribe so you don’t miss what comes next in John 11. After you listen, will you leave a review and tell us what part you’re still wrestling with? Support the show Please visit www.thetakeaway.faith for more resources, books or to send us a message

    John 11:1-16 If God Is Love, Why Does He Allow Suffering? Part 1: The Delay

  7. Jul 28

    John 10:23–42 Can You Lose Your Salvation?

    Send us Fan Mail What do you do when your faith feels real, but your track record makes you wonder if God will eventually let go? We sit with one of the most comforting promises Jesus ever gives and one of the most confronting claims He ever makes. As Pastor Harry Behrens finishes John 10:23–42, the big idea comes into focus: your assurance of salvation does not rest on the strength of your grip on Christ, but on the strength of His grip on you. We walk through the scene in Solomon’s colonnade where the crowd demands clarity and Jesus answers with a diagnosis: unbelief is not mainly an information problem, it’s a receiving problem. Then we slow down over the words Christians cling to in anxious seasons: “I give them eternal life… no one will snatch them out of my hand.” Jesus doesn’t leave the listener wondering which hand holds them either. He ties His hand to the Father’s hand and says, “I and the Father are one” which explains both the comfort believers feel and the outrage His opponents show. From there, we trace Jesus’ response to the blasphemy charge through Psalm 82, clearing up what “you are gods” means, why Scripture’s view of the image of God matters, and how sin turns our calling inward. The episode lands with a practical question: if we still fail, what fruit can we look for? The answer is surprisingly gentle and deeply clarifying: the evidence is not perfection, but the direction of your returning to the Shepherd who keeps calling your name. If you’ve been measuring eternal security by your mood, your discipline, or your recent wins and losses, press play and let John 10 reset your footing. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs steadier ground, and leave a review so more people can find the message. Support the show Please visit www.thetakeaway.faith for more resources, books or to send us a message

    John 10:23–42 Can You Lose Your Salvation?

  8. Jul 21

    John 10:22 The God Who Works in Silence

    Send us Fan Mail Silence can feel like the cruelest answer. You pray, you wait, you try to stay faithful, and heaven feels quiet while real life gets louder. So we slow down and sit with one “blink and you miss it” verse, John 10:22, where John tells us it’s winter and Jesus is at the Feast of Dedication. That detail is not trivia. It’s the key to seeing what God is doing when you can’t hear Him. We walk through the history behind the Feast of Dedication, what most Christians only know as Hanukkah. That means stepping into the 400 years between Malachi and Matthew, the rise of empires, and the violent attempt of Antiochus Epiphanes to erase Jewish worship by outlawing Torah and desecrating the temple. Then we follow the Maccabean revolt and the rededication of the temple in 164 BC, a public reminder that God preserves His covenant even when everything looks unstable. Here’s the moment that lands: Jesus arrives at that very feast, in that very temple, as the true dwelling of God among His people. The building they celebrate was always pointing to Him. And once you see God’s preserving hand in history, you can start to trust His hand in your own life, including the season where prayer feels unanswered. We also explore how God can be preparing far more than you can see, forming endurance, depth, and even the “infrastructure” for future gospel fruit. If you’ve been asking, “What is God doing in this?”, press play, then subscribe, share with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What part of the quiet season is hardest for you to trust right now? Support the show Please visit www.thetakeaway.faith for more resources, books or to send us a message

    John 10:22 The God Who Works in Silence
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About

The Takeaway is a verse-by-verse teaching podcast devoted to helping believers see the glory of God revealed through His Word. Each episode walks carefully through Scripture—unpacking the command that confronts us, the revelation that exposes us, the grace that rescues us, and the glory that transforms us.

Information

  • Creator
    Pastor Harry Behrens
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    111
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The TakeAway
  • Show Website
    The TakeAway