On Thursday (March 9), pastor John MacArthur made his first appearance on the stage of Grace Community Church (GCC) since Jan. 1, when he preached one of the church’s morning services, but was not well enough to preach the second. 

Later that month, MacArthur underwent heart surgery to clear blocked arteries. The surgery was successful, but MacArthur’s scheduled timeline to return to the pulpit was nevertheless ambitious. He was scheduled to preach the opening session of the Shepherds Conference this week, an annual event hosted at GCC, but was unable to do so. 

However, he was able to appear in a subsequent session for a more informal conversation, which was facilitated by Austin Duncan, a staff pastor at GCC. 

MacArthur Provides a Health Update

Referring to MacArthur’s appearance at Shepherds Conference as “a providence,” Duncan nevertheless admitted that MacArthur was “probably not supposed to be here.” Commending him, Duncan said, “Classic MacArthur, total jock, total warrior, total lion.”