John MacArthur briefly returns to pulpit for Thanksgiving service amid health issues
'Sometimes trials are blessings in disguise,' pastor, 85, tells congregation
"I should go away more often."
It may have been a punchline of sorts for Pastor John MacArthur following his return to the pulpit Sunday evening after a months-long absence due to health issues, but the 85-year-old pastor of Grace Community Church (GCC) in Sun Valley, California, couldn't have delivered a more fitting response.
MacArthur, who appeared visibly thinner but in good spirits, received a half-minute standing ovation from the congregation upon his return during the Los Angeles-area church's Thanksgiving Communion Service, a significant moment that marked both his recovery and, as he shared, a deepened walk with the Lord through a myriad of health challenges, including undergoing three heart surgeries and procedures on his lungs.
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"I'm still here, and thankful to the Lord for that," MacArthur, who hadn't preached during a Sunday service since July, remarked, visibly moved by the warm reception. He said that while it wasn't his choice to be away from the pulpit for so long, he recognized that "sometimes trials are blessings in disguise" and that God's purposes often unfold in ways we would never expect.
"God has purposes that we would've never been able to fulfill if we weren't put into some kind of stress," he added.
MacArthur's reflections centered on the theme of gratitude, especially in the face of adversity.
"When people ask me how I feel, I say I'm thankful," he said. "I'm just thankful I see the good and gracious and kind and providential hand of God in every vicissitude in my life, every hard experience, every challenge — whatever that challenge may be."
He added his health challenges have presented him with the opportunity to witness the "good hand of divine providence" working in ways that would not have been possible without the difficulties.
"I can be grateful because I know the outcome of everything," he said. "The outcome of everything is to the glory of God and the benefit of His children, right? So I want to make sure I allow my own heart to rejoice in the fact that God will perfect me and will bring glory to Himself through my trials, probably more than any other way."
His appearance at the communion service was the first since he gave the congregation a health update on Oct. 20, in which he recounted an episode in January 2023 when he experienced trouble breathing before preaching a Sunday service, forcing him to seek medical attention.
"It's been a long siege of not breathing normally," MacArthur shared.
After undergoing a series of heart procedures, including the placement of four stents in his arteries, MacArthur said doctors discovered fluid in his lungs, after which he underwent another procedure.
Now at 85, it's unclear whether MacArthur will return to full-time preaching or in another capacity.
CP reached out to a spokesperson Monday for more information about MacArthur's health status. This story will be updated if a response is received.
On Sunday, he shared that whatever comes next, his gratitude has only increased with the testing.
"One thing that I have found is that my thanksgiving has increased because it's in the trials when you're face to face with things that could easily overpower you, and you have now particular control over them at all, that you find your faith is tested," he said.
"And out of that testing has come an immense amount of gratitude to the Lord. He has revealed Himself in all these issues, all these trials, in so many ways that I can't even begin to count."
MacArthur's health issues have largely insulated him from the controversy surrounding Texas Pastor Steve Lawson following Lawson's removal in September as lead pastor at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas due to his admission of "an inappropriate relationship with a woman."
Lawson previously served as a dean at Grace Community Church's The Master's University and Seminary.
Earlier this month, an image of Lawson sitting next to a young woman with her face blurred out surfaced on social media after it was originally shared and taken down by the Grace Community Church Crossroads Instagram account.
Phil Johnson, executive director of Grace to You, MacArthur's media ministry, later confirmed the woman was a "student at The Master's College during some of the time that they were engaged in this adulterous affair."
