Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., returned to the pulpit this weekend three months after his son's suicide.

On July 27, Warren's wife, Kay, joined him in sharing a message titled "How to Get Through What You're Going Through"—the pastor's first sermon since the April 5 death of their youngest son, Matthew, 27, who struggled with mental illness.

Warren opened the service by thanking his staff, local pastors and his family for their love and support during the last few months.

"We intend to spend the rest of our lives comforting others with the comfort we've been given," said Warren, best-selling author of The Purpose Driven Life (Zondervan).

More than 10,000 attended two Saturday evening worship services at the Saddleback campus to hear the Warrens, with an additional 6,500 watching live online. It was the first time Warren had preached in 16 weeks, the longest he has ever been away from the pulpit. The congregation greeted the Warrens with a standing ovation.

Warren then continued by sharing the three things that gave he and Kay stability during their grief. First, life doesn't make sense, but we can have peace because God is with us and loves us. Second, everything on Earth is broken, but we can have joy because we know God has a greater plan. And third, we know that life is a battle, but we can have hope because we know there is more to the story.

"For 27 years I prayed every day of my life for God to heal my son's mental illness ... it didn't make sense why this prayer wasn't being answered," Warren said. "When you go through a difficult time, you automatically start to try and find an answer. But explanations never comfort. You don't need explanations; you need the presence of God."

Kay Warren also shared about her struggle with continuing to choose joy even in grief, a topic which she wrote about in her 2012 book, Choose Joy (Revell/Baker Publishing Group).

"What do you do when hope doesn't turn out the way you think it will? You rebuild your hope," she said.

During the next six weeks, Warren will continue the sermon series by focusing on the six stages of grief: shock, sorrow, struggle, surrender, sanctification and service.

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