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God Knows What It's Like to Lose a Son': Rick Warren Returns to Pulpit for First Time Since Son's Suicide
(Credit: Getty Images)

God Knows What It's Like to Lose a Son': Rick Warren Returns to Pulpit for First Time Since Son's Suicide

"God wants to take your greatest sorrow and turn it into your life's greatest message"

LOS ANGELES (TheBlaze/AP) -- Nearly four months after his son's suicide, popular pastor Rick Warren returned to the pulpit Saturday afternoon at Saddleback Church and the congregation gave him a long standing ovation.

(Credit: Getty Images)

After Warren took the stage with his wife Kay at the Southern California megachurch he founded in Lake Forest, Calif., a shout of "We love you!" came from the crowd.

"I love you, too," a smiling Warren—dressed in his usual casual black T-shirt and jeans—replied. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

It was the first time Warren had taken the Saddleback pulpit since his 27-year-old son Matthew shot and killed himself on April 5.

In the sermon, first in a series called "How To Get Through What You're Going Through," Warren said he had the perfect role model for his struggles.

"God knows what it's like to lose a son," Warren said.

He remained mostly composed, but choked back tears at times, including when he thanked his surviving two children.

"How proud I was of Amy and Josh, who for 27 years loved their younger brother," Warren said. "They talked him off the ledge time after time. They are really my heroes."

In April, Matthew Warren, after a lifetime of struggle with depression, shot and killed himself in what his father at the time called "a momentary wave of despair."

This undated photo provided by the Saddleback Valley Community Church shows Matthew Warren, the son of Pastor Rick Warren. (Credit: AP)

He delivered a formal, prepared speech with notes and quotes from Scripture but often broke off to talk frankly about his son.

"I was in shock for at least a month after Matthew took his life," Warren said. "For 27 years I prayed every day of my life for God to heal my son's mental illness."

But Warren said he was grateful to come from "a family of spiritual redwoods."

"Satan picked the wrong team to pick on," he said.

Warren has been an essential figure in the modern, megachurch brand of Christianity.

His multimillion-selling book "The Purpose Driven Life" made him a national star in the realms of religion and self-help, and he delivered the opening prayer at President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration.

Saddleback, the church he founded in 1980, has grown to 20,000 members, according to his biography on the church's website.

Warren said Saturday that he intended to turn his grief into a message of service and hope.

"God wants to take your greatest sorrow and turn it into your life's greatest message," he said.

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