What difference does preaching make?

What do you think? How would you answer this question?

From Tim Spivey:

What is preaching? Is it just the bloviation of opinions by the weird? Is it simply the generally unhelpful ramblings of good people with enough guts to speak in public? Is preaching proclamation of God’s Word through a human mouthpiece? Is preaching evangelism? Is it biblical instruction, wisdom for living, truth through personality, or a waste of time?

Here’s a question that deserves some discussion: despite your answers to the questions above, what difference does preaching make? At the end of the day, does it matter a hill of beans? In most churches, preaching takes up a good 30-40% of time in a typical assembly. It is often placed liturgically as the climax of that service.

As for me, I do believe preaching can make an enormous difference in people’s spiritual lives over time–but sometimes doesn’t. I am not one of those preachers who believes the sermon should be the climax of every service. I believe that while some will put forward Communion, praise, prayer for the saints or even fellowship as the theological climax of the assembly, I’m not sure there is a “climax.” I think God is His own climax, and each movement of liturgy has value inasmuch as it performs the task of drawing people closer to and lifting up God. This is to say whether we are talking about preaching, praise, Communion, or any other element…it has the potential be either a climax or a low point. This isn’t determined by the entertainment value of the element, but by the spiritual precision, theological meaning and, yes, experiential impact of the element.