The Free Reformed Churches accept everything that is written in the Bible to be the Word of God. This Word has no equal because it is:

• Inspired by God the Holy Spirit who caused many different people to write it over a considerable period of time
• Infallible, in that it is a completely reliable and trustworthy book that should not and need not be doubted
• Inerrant, meaning that whatever is revealed in it is without error, contradiction or misrepresentation
• Sufficient, because it fully contains the will of God and reveals all that we need to believe in order to be saved

This Word is the ultimate rule for faith and life in the Free Reformed Churches. It is the foundation of our faith, it confirms our faith, and regulates how we live out our faith.

Public worship is a special time of meeting and fellowship between the Lord as our God and us as His people. Since we are sinful people and He is the Holy God, we come before Him with due humility and only through the one Mediator, Jesus Christ. We therefore seek to maintain a reverent atmosphere within the worship services, conscious of the fact that we are involved in worshipping the great Lord of lords and King of kings. Since children as well as adults are part of God’s covenant family, the children of the congregation participate in worship from an early age.

Each worship service begins with confessing our dependence upon the Lord, and is followed by God’s greeting from the Scriptures. We sing psalms and hymns throughout the service, and listen to the Ten Commandments and readings from the Bible. The main element in the worship services is the sermon, where the pastor proclaims the Word of God. The sermon explains and applies a portion of the Bible to the congregation. Other parts of worship include public prayers and profession of faith, as well as financial collections for the poor, mission work and other causes of charity. The service is concluded with receiving the Lord’s blessing. In addition, we celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper six times a year, and when requested by members, the sacrament of baptism is administered to children born to believing parents, and to adult converts.

The entire worship service is structured as a conversation between the LORD and His people. He speaks to us in His Word and with His greeting and blessing, and we respond to Him by singing, confessing faith, praying, and presenting our gifts. This is a beautiful depiction of the covenant relationship between God and His people.

In our worship services, we observe the following order of events:

• Votum and Salutation (Introductory vow of faith using Psalm 124:8 and a greeting from God using Revelation 1:4-5)
• Singing
• God's Covenant Word - Reading of the Ten Commandments (morning) or Confession of Faith - Reading of the Apostles' Creed (afternoon)
• Singing
• Prayer
• Scripture Reading
• Singing
• Ministry of the Word (Sermon)
• Singing
• Thanksgiving Prayer
• Offering
• Singing
• Benediction (Blessing, using Numbers 6:24-26)

Over time, the main teachings of the Bible have been summarised into statements of faith called creeds or confessions. As part of the Free Reformed Churches of Australia, we hold to three creeds and three confessions.

The creeds - namely the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed - come to us from the early church. The confessions - namely the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dort - have come to us from the Reformation of the sixteenth century.

We believe that the Bible teaches us how we should organise and govern our church. More specifically, we believe:

• The local church as the authority to govern itself
• The local churches should cooperate and commit to certain common causes and needs
• The recognition of the biblical offices of minister/pastor, elder and deacon and their election based on biblical principles
• The minister and elders govern and lead the local church
• The need for church discipline

In order to implement these principles in a practical way, we have adopted what is called a Church Order. It contains around 80 articles that are divided into 4 sections, dealing with:

• The offices of the church
• The assemblies of the church (consistory, classis, general synod)
• The liturgy of the church (worship, sacraments and ceremonies)
• The discipline of the church