Mirror, mirror, on the wall … Uturn was rockin’ at Festival Hall this past August 2^nd.  Who do you see in the mirror?  Every day, we look into a mirror.  At first glance, we’re still looking exhausted.  We look deeper.  What are we looking for?  We analyze the image in the mirror and fix what we think needs fixing.  Sometimes we smile at what we see.  But in a few minutes, we walk away and forget what we’ve seen.

The crowds began filling Festival Hall before 8:00.  There were many familiar faces and many new people, people from as far away as West Guilford.  If the people didn’t get a chance to see the back table on their way in, they had lots to look at during intermission: new shirts, hats, sweaters, and jackets were available.  The contest for the free hat took an odd twist when the three contestants needed help for the final question.  Instead of fighting it out for the prize, the three contestants decided to give the hat to Matthew Carpenter, who helped them all see more than the obvious.  Check out the event posters to see how you can win a prize.

Each Uturn, we are entertained by dramas that make us laugh or make us cry.  First we learned how to make lemon pie.  Later, we learned why Jesus came to die.  In this drama, we watched Jesus form us and care for us, but we also watched as we were drawn away from Him.  The battle to get back to Jesus could not be won on our own.  What do we look for when we look into the mirror?  Is it just a few physical blemishes that capture our gaze or is there something deeper staring back through the eyes in that image? 

With songs like Blessed Be Your Name and From the Inside Out, the band was nearly overpowered by the crowd’s singing.  There was one voice in that room, and we were saying is this: there is no one greater than Jesus!  The band led us through an evening of familiar songs and some new songs, like Following You, by Jadon Lavik.

Later, Ben and Annina shared about the freedom that they have found through Jesus.  We all have an image that we are trying to portray, an image that we want to see in the mirror.  Who is the you that you want me to see?  Is it an image of success, of popularity; an image of sex appeal, of intelligence, or of strength; or is it an image of confidence, of experience, or of talent?  Who are we trying to impress with this image? 

James, a half-brother of Jesus, said that people who listen to the word of God, but do not do what it says are like people who look at their faces in a mirror, and, after looking at themselves, go away and immediately forget what they look like.  But James also talks about finding freedom and happiness that starts by looking at another image, Jesus.  Essentially, James wants to know what’s going on with people who say that they know Jesus, or people who claim to be religious, but don’t live the way Jesus wants them to.  Who do you see when you look in the mirror?  Is it someone who lives for Jesus or someone who has the appearance of being religious?  Annina challenged us with many questions, many of which deal with looking at our image through God’s eyes.  Annina has found freedom through Jesus, freedom from the inward focus on herself, freedom from the surface level of the mirror, freedom to look into the depth of the eyes in the mirror and consider herself as God sees her.
 

If you have any questions about the experience of freedom we have found by being conformed to the image of Jesus, simply email us at freedom@uturnpembroke.com.