What are you looking at? | Pastor West & Gail Starr

Faith stands right at the center of the whole thing, because God is looking for faith when he looks at a human life. God is not hunting for religious noise or outside appearance. God is looking for complete trust, complete confidence, wholehearted belief, and loyalty to him and his purposes. Hebrews says that without faith it is impossible to please God, and Romans says that whatever is not of faith is sin.

Second Corinthians 5:7 says that the life of faith walks by faith and not by sight. The word “walk” is not just a step here or there. The word carries lifestyle, habits, priorities, money, time, energy, passion, and obedience. Real faith aligns the whole life with God, not just the ideas in the head.

The little league picture makes the point plain. The batter kept swinging and missing because every time the ball came, his eyes closed. The lesson was simple: “keep your eyes on the ball.” Faith has to keep its eyes open, because the church can miss what God is doing when sight, pressure, and distraction take over.

Second Corinthians 4:16 to 18 gives the strategy: do not lose heart, because the outward life is wasting away, but the inward life is being renewed day by day. Paul puts the seen and unseen on opposite sides. The seen things are temporary, earthly, fleeting, and always slipping away. The unseen things are eternal.

Colossians 3 says the same thing another way: seek the things above, where Christ is seated. The word means active concentration and focus, taking out distractions and aligning the heart. The heart means affection, passion, and what a person really loves. Eternal eyes are not accidental. Eternal eyes come from setting the heart on God himself, his kingdom, his goodness, his faithfulness, and his promises.

The scale tells the truth. On one side sit light and momentary troubles, the squeezing and pressure that just keep coming. On the other side sits eternal glory, perfect joy, perfect love, inheritance, reward, and being with Jesus. Eternal glory far outweighs them all.

First Peter says that the inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, and kept in heaven. Christ gives joy even while trials grieve the soul, because tested faith is more precious than gold. The call to eternal purpose then presses into real life: blessing, money, suffering, and time are not for self-protection. The kingdom call asks for willing servants with eternal eyes, ready to say yes wherever Jesus sends.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Faith keeps its eyes open Faith is not just agreement with God’s ideas. Faith is active trust that refuses to close its eyes when pressure comes in slow motion or fast. The image of missing the ball because the eyes shut shows how easily distraction turns into spiritual blindness. [09:42]
• 2. Eternal eyes require active focus Eternal perspective does not drift into place by accident. Colossians and Corinthians call for concentration, removing distractions, and setting affection on what lasts. The heart follows what it loves, so the fight for focus is really a fight for love. [16:56]
• 3. Glory outweighs momentary pressure Affliction may feel heavy because it presses, squeezes, and keeps coming. Paul does not deny that weight, but he puts it on the scale beside eternal glory. The Christian life learns to measure pain by eternity, not by the loudness of the present moment. [25:13]
• 4. Suffering can count for kingdom purpose The world suffers too, but the kingdom gives suffering a different direction. Affliction becomes holy ground when it is offered to Jesus for people, mission, obedience, and eternal fruit. The question is not whether hardship will come, but whether hardship will be spent on what lasts. [39:07]
• 5. Blessing is meant to bless others Provision is not treated as a private trophy in the kingdom of God. Financial blessing, energy, time, and opportunity become seed for obedience when eternal eyes are open. The call asks the believer to see the community, the nations, and the overlooked person as places where Jesus wants love poured out.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [01:53] - What Are You Looking At?
• [03:03] - Faith Is What God Looks For
• [04:06] - Walking by Faith, Not Sight
• [08:29] - Keep Your Eyes on the Ball
• [10:35] - Eternal Eyes in Second Corinthians
• [16:16] - Set the Heart Above
• [19:27] - Life Is Relentless
• [22:08] - Renewed Day by Day
• [25:13] - Eternal Glory on the Scale
• [28:41] - An Imperishable Inheritance
• [34:57] - Returning to First Love
• [39:07] - Afflictions With Eternal Purpose
• [44:35] - Living for Kingdom Purpose
• [46:39] - Prayer for Eternal Eyes

1. In the baseball analogy from the sermon, what caused the batter to miss the ball, and how does this relate to faith? [09:42]
2. According to 2 Corinthians 4:18, what two categories does Paul contrast, and what characterizes each?
3. The sermon mentions Colossians 3:1–3. What action does this passage urge believers to take, and what does it mean to “set your mind” on heavenly things?
4. What example did the speaker give about using financial blessings for eternal purposes? [45:24]

1. Why does Paul describe earthly troubles as “light and momentary” (2 Corinthians 4:17) when suffering often feels overwhelming? How does the metaphor of a “scale” help explain this? [25:13]
2. How does the idea of an “imperishable inheritance” (1 Peter 1:4) reshape a believer’s perspective on material wealth or security?
3. The sermon argues that “eternal eyes require active focus.” What distractions might make it difficult to maintain this focus in daily life, and why? [16:56]
4. In the story about the family living near train tracks, how did suffering take on “eternal purpose” for the speaker? [41:03]

1. What practical step could you take this week to “fix your eyes” on unseen, eternal realities when faced with a stressful situation?
2. The sermon challenges believers to see blessings (money, time, energy) as “seed for obedience.” What is one area where you could redirect a blessing you’ve received to serve others? [48:27]
3. When have you experienced a trial that felt “heavy” in the moment? How might viewing it through the “scale” of eternal glory change your response next time? [25:13]
4. The speaker shared stories of serving marginalized people (e.g., the deaf friend, the family on the train tracks). Who in your community is easily overlooked, and how could you intentionally love them this month? [36:42]
5. Colossians 3:1–3 calls believers to “seek the things above.” What habit or routine could help you daily refocus your heart’s affections on Christ?
6. The sermon warns against letting “pressure and distraction take over.” What distraction most often pulls your focus away from eternal priorities, and what boundary could you set to guard against it? [09:42]
7. How would your life look different if you truly believed that “tested faith is more precious than gold” (1 Peter 1:7)? What fear or hesitation might this truth dissolve? [30:13]