The "transforming effect of preaching"

Albert Mohler, speaking at the recent Power in the Pulpit conference in Louisville, called for preaching to be "paramount in the worship life of the community of faith." Dr. Mohler is quoted here from David Roach's article at Baptist Press News:

"... When we preach the Word ... the Spirit is preaching alongside us. The Spirit is taking the words where we can never take them. And the Spirit is applying them in ways that are invisible even to the life in which they are applied."

The transforming effect of preaching may take time to manifest itself in listeners' lives, but preachers must remember that transformed lives eventually will result from their faithful exposition, Mohler said.

That's a good and encouraging point. The value of preaching in the church does on occasion manifest itself in the one convicting word to a Christian. More often the benefit comes from a steady diet of the Bread of life, rightly proclaimed.