Old Beginnings [STAR]

Introduction

Good morning everyone and happy new year since I haven’t had a chance to wish you guys yet. 2025 was such an amazing year for HFTC; and we are praying for an even greater 2026 for everyone here.

And you know the beauty of New Years is that even if 2025 was not a good year for you - New Years often represents a new, fresh start - I find that the typical mentality is to push ahead with the new, don’t you? Old goals are often left behind in favour of new ones. New dreams, New visions take the forefront. And rightfully so - it’s a new year, everybody wants a fresh start, there’s nothing wrong with that!

That’s why the gyms are now packed, people take up new hobbies, begin new habits, study new courses, we get a fresh wind at work, start vying for that new position, saving for that new house - new year, new me; and I’m actually all for it.

You know even in our faith and our relationship with God - we can make goals, a fresh start, we want a new vision, a new word, a new revelation. And just like I said before - I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that! In fact I think that we should start to normalise new years resolutions that involve our walk with God.

We should be praying for our relationship with God to go to next levels, a new level of encounter, a new level of anointing - and honestly may that be the case for every person here in this room today.

But here’s a trap that we can fall into as we pursue the fresh vision, that new revelation. Sometimes we can abandon what formed us while reaching for what will fill us. What do I mean by that?

What I mean is that in reaching for that new vision, those new goals, that fresh revelation - we can often lose sight of the old things that helped us to get where we are today. By only seeking the fresh and the new we can often leave behind the tested and proven.

Perhaps specifically what I mean is that when we get a chance to do something new - turn a new leaf, enter a new season, begin a new year; our tendency may be to chase a dream and vision that brings us to new heights, that we can tend to neglect the foundation that we have built on in the first place.

And it’s true that sometimes we do need to leave old things in the old season; I’m not saying that we definitely need to bring across everything from the old season into our new season, no there are definitely things - hurts, obstacles, blockages - that need to be left in our old season.

But I also know that God provides us with timeless truths that remain not just relevant but foundational to any season that we walk through in life. And as we start this new year, let’s take some time to ponder these things - what are the timeless truths that we need to keep throughout all our seasons, the old - and this new one.

Pray

Segment 1: Building Altars

Genesis 12:1–10 ESV

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb. 10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.

Strange place to stop but there’s a reason for it that I’ll come back to later.

The thing that I want us to pay attention to - the timeless truth that I want us to take note of in this passage is the first thing that Abraham does as he enters his new season - the land that the Lord tells him to inhabit: He builds an altar.

And I do want to start here to make a note of that because it is so easily overlooked as a timeless truth - Abraham builds an altar. In fact he actually builds two altars here in v7 and in v8.

Now, altars have great significance in scripture - and they also have many purposes. Here in v7 and in v8 we actualy have two altars but they each are built for different reasons.

The first altar in v7 is built as a response to the Word of the Lord. God speaks and Abraham marks the place that God speaks to Him with an altar. The second altar is similar, Abraham goes to Bethel - a hill country, and he goes up to Bethel and builds another altar there; and theologians believe that one of the key reasons for building an altar here is that Abraham was marking spiritual territory. He was claiming in the physical what God had revealed to him in the spiritual.

The altar is an physical representation of a spiritual revelation. It is something done in the physical to MARK a shift in the spiritual.

It CONSECRATES a moment, it gives the moment weight, gives it significance.

You know what Church? I think it’s time to come back to altar building in our lives.

When I say that I mean - how are we CONSECRATING Godly encounters in our lives?

How are we RESPONDING to the voice of God? How are we MOVED by the encounter? How are we physically MARKING the shift in the spiritual.

Let’s ask ourselves, when was the last time we had a real altar moment with God?

It could be as basic as coming down to the altar after a message, consecrating, marking a Word that God spoke into your life.

What about setting our Sundays aside to come to church - consecrating your time, giving weight to hearing the voice of God. A physical action that marks a shift in spiritual state.

What about baptism? A MARKER in the physical of your spiritual renewal

Maybe this year it’s stepping into serve God’s people in a ministry, maybe it’s something more personal like forgiveness, maybe it’s financial

As God speaks and leads us into greater encounter with Him - what are we doing to CONSECRATE these moments? To give them weight, to mark them as significant?

ILLUSTRATION: Building this building (Not just a home, but an altar)

You know - I’ve been involved in church building projects before. Ones that are far grander and more expensive than the one that we just completed. Building projects where I wasn’t even allowed onto the building site because all construction was carried out by the company that we had hired. Each one was an amazing provision by God and such an experience - But can I tell you that none of them gave me a sense of altar building as much as this one. You know why? Because altars are associated with sacrifice - and this building project from start to finish was about sacrifice. From the week that we took up the heart for the house offering - where we expected to raise at best 250k across the church and ended up raising over 400k; we saw families building altars/having altar moments together, proclaiming new territory in the physical by so generously giving. YOU gave in the tens of thousands to build this altar. That’s altar building.

When the work actually started - we had at LEAST a hundred different volunteers come on site to help with works. Volunteers with little to no building experience even who came just to sweep up before their work shift. We had kids who came after their work shift and stayed into the night. . They spent their holidays here - some came for more than a week straight, every day for as long as 15 hours PER DAY. Youth members through to BOARD members came to help. We had people behind the scenes managing the project, people managing the funds, people executing the work. I’m not going to name names because there are far too many people involved and I’d definitely leave someone out.

The Lord spoke and expanded our territory - and so many of you came and CONSECRATED this moment, you added weight to this moment, you added significance to it by sacrificing your time, your enjoyment, your energy. This building stands as a PHYSICAL representation of a SPIRITUAL revelation - God wants this city, Perth is HIS city. This building is an altar quite literally built in the heart of the city - by you.

You know on one of the friday nights at youth, a couple of youths were stuffing around in the carpark and they got busted by our leaders. And so pastor James got them, as a form of repentance, to turn up to church and to clean the church the whole of the next day. When they rocked up - they were apologetic, and set to work immediately, cleaning, vacuuming, tidying up, everything. You know I remember looking at those boys working on the church, without complaining, accepting of their consequences and I remember thinking; even that is altar building. Making things right by serving the Lord. Physical action that reflects spiritual revelation, a repentant heart - in this case.

Let’s get back to altar building in our lives, let’s get back to having altar moments in our lives.

Here’s the thing about altars - we don’t stumble across altar building moments in our lives; we have to make room for them. Building altars is not coincidental - it’s intentional. It’s an intentional slowing down of our lives to find time to build altars, to consecrate moments, to respond to His Word, to acknowledge encounter.

Segment 2: Revisiting Altars

But it’s not just the building of altars that is significant in this passage - there’s actually more to this than that.

Genesis 13:1–4 ESV

1 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb. 2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.

Later on in Abraham’s journey, God leads him BACK to the same altar that he made right at the beginning of the journey in Bethel.

And this is significant - because Abraham had just come out of a difficult situation. God had promised the land of Caanan to Abraham just like we see in Genesis 12. However when Abraham gets to Canaan, not only is it filled with Canaanites - a violent and morally corrupt people who practised things like child sacrifice, but there was also a famine going on in the land (Gen 12:10). So what does Abraham do? He leaves Canaan, the land that God promised him, to go to Egypt in order to seek better pasture. But the problem is that even though Egypt looks good - they end up getting chased out of Egypt because Abraham lies to Pharaoah.

So at this point in the story not only has Abraham not trusted the word of God, he has also compromised his character - and now he’s lost - he’s a wanderer.

And this happens to us - maybe this was your last year; where you were holding out for the promised land but it just looked nothing like what you expected. Maybe you thought that last year was meant to be your year but it just ended up in disappointment and discouragement.

Perhaps that even caused you to walk away from God - to give up on the promise and the calling that He has over your life.

You feel lost - you became a wanderer, directionless, visionless. Maybe you feel 2026 will be more of the same.

But this is why the next part is so important. Because THIS is when Abraham comes back to Bethel, back to the place where he had first made an altar to the Lord.

See this for what it is - it is a moment of recommitment, it is a moment of rededication. A moment where Abraham realises that his mistake was wandering away from the promise of God. A moment where in his lostness, and in his wandering - he remembers the last place that he heard the voice of the Lord, the last place that he felt the presence of God strongly - he goes back to the altar that he first built.

The altar turned Abraham the Wanderer into Abraham the Worshipper again.

Altars turn wanderers into worshippers - and the thing is worshippers don’t need to fixate on the path, because their focus is on the Shepherd. They don’t need to worry about the plan because they trust in the planner.

Returning to the altar is an act of surrender, an acknowledgement that while we may not know the way - we know that He does.

When you are wandering, lost - not sure of where to go; instead of chasing what just looks new: the new season, the new direction, the new me; return to the altar - to a place where we last encountered God, to a place where we last envisioned His promise and calling for our lives.

Segment 3: Not losing ground, gaining direction

You know I believe that there are some people here who may feel like they’ve been here before. Sort of like - you’re disappointed because you thought you’d be further in life but instead you feel like you’re just on the same path again, you’re back where you started, you feel like you haven’t made any progress - Just like Abraham found himself back at the same altar he first built.

Can I just encourage you by saying this? Don’t mistake Regression for Realignment

Don’t mistake going backwards with God sending you to a place you’ve been before.

When Abraham went back to the altar, he wasn’t starting over - he was starting right and there is a big difference between the two.

Let’s me show you what I’m talking about: Remember what I told you before in Gen 12:5-10. Abraham goes to Canaan, and the Lord declares that He will give them the land as they make camp there. Remember how I told you v10 was significant? Let’s take a look at it again.

Genesis 12:10 “10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.”

So first the Caananites, a terrible people, were inhabiting the land, and now there is a bad famine in the land. The land that God promised, the land that God directed Abraham to doesn’t look too good anymore. And so Abraham up and leaves and goes to Egypt, where they stockpile food and where the land is bountiful.

I want you to remember this - because while it doesn’t say anywhere that God was displeased with this action - the implication here is that these are the actions of a man that does not trust God to provide. These are the actions of a man who questions whether God was in His right mind, that questions the intentions of God for His future and the future of His lineage.

And we see this even as Abraham is in Egypt - the first thing he does is lie about Sarai being his wife. Genesis 12:11–13 “11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.””

Again - these are the actions of a man who has not learned how to trust in God, these are the actions of a man who doubts whether God will be saviour and provider.

Let’s fast forward to after Abraham gets kicked out of Egypt - he’s lost and like we’ve just said - he goes BACK to the altar, back to the first place that he heard and acknowledged the promise of the Lord to Him.

Now Abraham has a new dilemma that he faces but this time something’s changed - let’s read it:

Genesis 13:5–12 “5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, 7 and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land. 8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom.”

Do you notice the change in Abraham?

The man who previously surrendered a key relationship in order to pursue his own advantage, is now surrendering his advantage to keep a key relationship. Where Abraham before gave up Sarah in order preserve his life and gain wealth, he now surrenders the potential for great wealth and flourishing in order to preserve his relationship with Lot. Abraham is learning to value the sacred over the strategic - this is what happens when we draw back to the altar, when our hearts come back to places of worship. We start to learn that God’s will is tied to God’s way.

But even more than this - he ultimately leaves the decision of where to go up to Lot. From the man in Genesis 12 who did not trust God enough to provide for him in Canaan, who did not trust God to preserve him in Egypt - to now a man who realises that God’s faithfulness alone is what upholds his promise. His contribution to God’s plan and promise changed from self-preservation to trust and surrender.

This is why he lets Lot choose the location. Remember that according to v10 Abraham and Lot can CLEARLY SEE both of the options; Lot chooses based on what His eyes saw - a fertile and beautiful land. Abraham leaves his choice to the Lord - trusting that as long as he protects the SACRED, as long as he values what the Lord values (in this case, his relationship with Lot) God will take care of the STRATEGY.

That visit to the altar - even though it may have looked like a regression; changed the entire trajectory of Abraham’s journey.

Segment 4: The sacred over the strategic

Church, let’s start this new year by looking to what is SACRED, over what is STRATEGIC.

Let’s take our eyes off what is strategic - what is OUR plan. What are OUR goals, what are OUR dreams and desires.

God is calling us back to the altar, back to altar moments. Back to worship. Back to surrender.

He’s calling us to value the sacred over the strategic:

to value trusting him over trusting self,

to value His way over ours,

to value the things of His heart over the things of ours,

to value sitting at His feet over busyness,

to value faith over fortune,

to value love over advantage.

ILLUSTRATION: Altaring this season

You know the first time that I was placed in charge of a church I was in my mid 20’s, just a kid. It was a big church and I didn’t really know what I was doing. I had a real altar moment with God before I took the church where I told the Lord at one of my first services there, where I remember distinclty running to the altar, the sermon didn’t have anything to do with recommitment or rededication but I remember distinctly standing at the front of the church with my hands raised high into the air and the only thing on my lips was “God if this is your will - then I’m all in. Take me, use me.” And from that moment I knew that God’s favour was on both of us as we took the mantle for that church because the growth just sort of happened and never stopped. No matter what we did, no matter the mistakes, the oversight, the lack of experience - God continued to pour into the church. Honestly, we didn’t really do too much - we stewarded whatever we had faithfully and God saw to the rest.

You know when I was called to take over this church by Dan - I was in my mid 30’s, life had worn me down somewhat, I was coming out of a rough season - I didn’t feel like I was ready to take a church, in fact both Sharon and I distinctly felt like we weren’t ready to take a church yet. And so even after we said we said yes to Dan, I wasn’t in a good mind space. I had a lot of self-doubt, a lot of apprehension and even uncertainty about this new season. I was asking myself constantly - What if God’s favour isn’t with me anymore? What if I’m not good enough for this? What if I don’t know what to do, what if I lose my way?

But one night in prayer - it wasn’t a service, it wasn’t anything flashy, it was just in my study room when I was alone. I had a private moment with God. And so in my room, I got on my knees and cried out to the Lord “God what if I can’t do this? What if I don’t have your favour anymore? How do I know that this is what you want? Are you even here, are you even in this?” - and as I was crying out to God, I had worship music playing in the background. And I’ll always remember this one moment, as I was crying out to God - the song Waymaker came on. And in that moment - it just felt like God was tangibly speaking to me. “Way Maker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper, Light in the darkness - my God, that is who You are.”

“Even when I don’t see it you’re working, Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working. You never stop working.”

And right there and then - I had an altar moment with the Lord where I rededicated this calling and this season to Him. Coming back to the altar changed one simple thing in my heart. It was no longer “This is who I am.” It became “That is who You are.”

It was no long This is who I am - I am weak, I am tired, I’m unsure, I’m not ready, I don’t know if I can do this. It became That is who You are - You are the promise keeper, You are faithful, You are good, You are God.

Let’s start this year by coming back to the Altar. By rededicating our season, starting with worship - right here and now.

Altar Call

Worship team doing Waymaker