IT STILL works! Preaching – a form of communication you might have thought had been overtaken and swept aside by interactive, powerpoint, buzz groups and focus groups – still works!

And I know that because people tell me, and I know that because when I listen to powerful, passionate and profound preaching, it gets to me too... reaches deep into my soul and worries away at my comfortableness, until I feel compelled to think in new ways – and more importantly, to act in new ways!

The fact that my congregations have taken steps to produce not one but two books of my sermons from over the years, suggests that even in our Space-Age, techno-driven times, it is still important to listen for a truth that comes to the open mind and the open heart with transformational power.

And people are glad to hear that word, and prepared to be open to its sometimes inconvenient truth.

That strange alchemy – when a man or woman, on fire with a message of hope, or challenge, comfort or call, communicates that with another person who is open to truth, seeking meaning and willing to change – still touches lives and makes a difference.

People who had hard hearts begin to think about forgiveness; broken bridges can be crossed and decisions made, in the heart, that are creative and healing.

It is a little miracle that happens Sunday by Sunday, whenever people are prepared to sit under the power of the Word and are willing to have their life upended by the possibility of its impact.

Preaching is dangerous and subversive, and when powered by love for God and for men and women an astonishing phenomenon, plump with potential for blessing. Listen and see!

‘Jesus loves you more than you will know!’, a new book of sermons, by Laurence Twaddle, is available from gjack38@yahoo.co.uk