Arbor Dale puts a lot of trust in preaching, in the word spoken, in the event of the sermon.  We believe that God speaks to us.  How is that possible?  Dietrich Bonhoeffer once explained it like this:

"The proclaimed word has its origin in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.  It neither originates from truth once perceived nor from personal experience.  It is not the reproduction of a specific set of feelings...The proclaimed word is the incarnate Christ himself...the thing itself.  The preached Christ is both the Historical One and the Present One...The proclaimed word is not a medium of expression for something else, something which lies behind it, but rather is the Christ himself walking through his congregation as the word. "