
07/16/2025
When the Man You Once Feared Became Your Beloved Pastor — John MacArthur
In the spring of 2023, I had the opportunity to share my testimony at the Sojourners Women’s Luncheon at GCC. One of the memories I shared was about my first encounter and conversation with Pastor John.
It was November 2014, on a Sunday evening. A friend and I were on a bus headed to the Walk of Fame in Hollywood when the bus stopped right in front of a building. I saw a big sign that said “Grace Community Church.” It didn’t ring a bell at first—until I saw the name John MacArthur underneath. That’s when I remembered hearing about him from my pastor’s wife and a young man back at my church in Queens, New York, who admired his teaching.
To be honest, I had tried listening to his sermons before on the Grace To You app, but I thought, “Wow, this man sounds so mean—he can’t be a man of God.” I struggled to understand his teaching, so I stopped listening. But because his name reminded me of my beloved church back in New York, my friend and I got off the bus and went inside. And there he was—preaching. The man I had been so afraid to hear was standing in the pulpit, faithfully proclaiming God’s Word. And we stayed. I kept visiting the church occasionally—I was desperate for a church family and to hear God’s Word again.
Fast forward to September 2017, I returned to Grace Community Church. It was another Sunday evening, and once again Pastor John was preaching. That night, I decided to go up and talk to him (yes, the man I once thought was “scary”). He was the first person I spoke to. I told him I was looking for a church and wanted to get plugged in. He kindly encouraged me to come on Sunday morning, attend Crossroads, and join the Foundations Bible study on Fridays. Then he asked someone nearby for a pen and paper, wrote down my name, email, and phone number, and said, “I’ll have my secretary reach out to you this week.”
That first encounter proved me completely wrong about him. He was so kind and patient as he listened to me. Like many have said: “John MacArthur is nicer in person than he is in the pulpit.” His kindness and humility stood out that day.
As I walked out of church, I told myself, “He meets so many people—he’ll forget and lose that piece of paper.”
But the next day, I had a voicemail from a sweet lady from Grace Community Church. I called her back, and we had the kindest conversation. That call marked the beginning of my journey at Grace. (To my surprise, I later met that same sweet lady at Bible study—and she became a dear friend, along with many other godly women I met in ministry.)
I started attending both morning and evening services, joined Foundations, and God surrounded me with faithful friends who loved Christ and made me want to follow Him more. Once I committed to Grace, I knew I had found my new home. Though my family hoped I’d return to New York after college, I stayed in LA—because of Grace Community Church.
I’m thankful for the years God gave me there. I got to work for the church, doing what I love. I moved to LA chasing Hollywood and the film industry—but the Lord gave me something better: not just a job, but a ministry and a family. I even had the blessing of working on The Essential Church, the first Christian feature documentary I was part of. We spent countless hours interviewing Pastor John, witnessing up close his love for his church and his Savior.
The man I once feared became my beloved pastor. His love for God’s people was evident—even to a girl from New York whom he didn’t know. Because he passed my contact info to his secretary, I found not just a solid church—but a family. It was at Grace that I met my husband, and after five years of marriage, our hardest goodbye when we moved to Phoenix in 2024 was saying farewell to our church family.
Today, I’m sad that our pastor is no longer with us. But I’m also rejoicing, because he is in the perfect presence of his Savior. What a great hope we have in Christ—that one day we too will be with Him and with our beloved saints in heaven, forever.
I look forward to the day I’ll be with my sweet Savior, Jesus, in heaven. 🙏🕊�https://gracechurch.org/sermons/19842