A dozen intrepid and excited Spring Harvesters set out on Tuesday 25th March – or Day 1 as we were to call it – to sunny Skegness. The theme this year was the last in a 3-year journey in God’s big story – ‘One God’, ‘One People’ and finishing with ‘One Hope’. Although we knew the theme we didn’t know who would be speaking until we saw the full programme!

It was wonderful to see some of my favourite speakers lined up for different sessions.

As we were all familiar with the Spring Harvest set-up it didn’t take us any time to work through the comprehensive programme and choose sessions and topics to meet our needs.

There were 3 different styles of evening worship and we chose the Big Top Celebration. Noel Robinson led the worship (of Enfield Gospel Festival fame!), and each evening different people brought a message of hope. The first evening we heard Pete Broadbent (Bishop of Willesden), talking about the ‘Surprising Hope’ in John 8. He spoke about the fact we have a sure hope that Jesus is ready to forgive any sin in our lives, but with confessing and repentance there must also be a change of heart.

Wilton Powell spoke about Lazarus’s death and of a ‘Trusting hope’ on Day 2. Jesus showed His humanity and brought transformation and immediate power – the resurrection power, but before that the stone needed to be rolled away. To be transformed we need to make a commitment as individuals. Transformation can work in families and nations. As things happen in our lives we must be aware of God’s power and work with it.

‘Hope where we’re known’ was the subject of Day 3 Rudo Kwaramba (National Director, World Vision – Uganda) shared thoughts from Luke 4. Jesus spoke with authority of the hope, healing and release we can have through Him. God works outside the boundary of human minds. We were challenged to think about how we limit God in our churches by our plans and not His.

Day 4 we heard Stephen Gaukroger talk about ‘Hope and presence’ from John 6 – the feeding of the 5,000. Like the boy willing to share his lunch God calls us to offer what we have to Him. God wants to use everyone so we have no excuses! We should not be afraid of the challenges we face as Christians but be assured that God meets us in His service.

Our last evening (Day 5) was one of my favourite speakers – Jeff Lucas. He spoke about ‘Hope Together’’ The passage was John 2 – Water into wine and the fact the impossible became possible. Mary took charge of the situation. She knew Jesus could and would fix the problem. We need to bring our impossible’s to Jesus and believe!

For the keenie’s among us there was ‘The Big Start’ each morning from 9-9.30. The write up says ‘The Big Start introduces you to the daily theme and is a great way for everyone to pray, praise and worship together’. The rest of us relaxed over a coffee after breakfast and prepared ourselves for the ‘The Big Picture’ bible studies!

This year they were from the book of Isaiah and led by Gerard Kelly. To give you some idea here are a few notes I made.

Day 2 – Isaiah the prophet: Brokenness is part of your journey with God who is big enough to be over and around us. Blessings removed from our lives for two reasons; we’re not pleasing God or they are not from God. We mustn’t assume because someone suffers they are outside the purposes of God. Suffering can produce fruit without reward. God allowed the people of Israel to be taken into exile so they could learn. Isaiah 53 was opening the door for the New Testament – Jesus and His death and resurrection.

Day 3 – Isaiah the poet: God wanted to do something deeper with the people of Israel and despite their time in exile His plans were moving forward. Do not let your present circumstances define who you are but let God work in you. God’s reward was to bring the people out of Egypt. We are the reward for Jesus’ suffering

Day 4 – Isaiah the teacher: The Israelites whinged about their exile but they were comfortable in it. Apathy is a big problem with Christians. We want things to change but that might mean taking us out of our comfort zone. We need to believe God will move and work even if we can’t see things any differently. God is a companion in hardship. Look at the past, at what God did and then forget it because He is going to do something far more wonderful!

Day 5 – Isaiah the party planner! There is an invitation for everyone to come to the banquet. We need to talk to the people who need God’s love and forgiveness. Every one of us has potential to produce more fruit. We are instructed to tell others about Jesus so that they too can come to the endless banquet in heaven.

Are you still with me?!

After ‘The Big Story’ we had a short break before the next session ‘The Big Broadcast’. This looked at the core teaching material in our Study Guide and was led each day by Ruth Dearnley and Jeff Lucas. There was so much material I have used the summary given in the guide!

Day 1 – Hope on a Hill: Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Christ and His gospel, the story around which all of creation is centred and within which history finds its ultimate climax and fulfillment.

Day 2 – Hope in the Garden: Isaiah 40. The story of creation, the epic which is the basis of all else. Here, in the vary beginnings of the universe; we shall begin to discover God’s hopes for His creation.

Day 3 – Hope out of Town: Isaiah 42:21-22:5. The Exodus, the story that unlocks the secret to faith and hope. In the big story, every previous divine intervention points towards a new future and every memory of what God has done is a promise of what is to come.

Day 4 – Hope in the City: Isaiah 55. The finale, the Bible’s vision of a new heaven and a new earth and God’s plan to make all things new.

There were a number of seminars in the afternoons which were linked together into trails although each seminar worked as a stand-alone session. These sessions gave us an opportunity to explore in depth distinct areas of life, faith and hope. There were also Workshops and a Sports programme.

Becky and Lauren went along to iScape each morning and evening. The programme gave them the opportunity to explore who they were, where God is in the landscape of their lives and to think about how they can serve Him where they are. They also persuaded Leah and David to run a few of their own Teen Bible studies in their chalet!

It wasn’t all studying – we did have time to chill out too! Most of us had a go at Crazy Golf and Bowling. Some of us went to see ‘Horton hears a who’ at the Cinema. There was also the Residents Show each night. On Brenda’s recommendation I went along to experience Paul Kerensa an ‘award-winning comedian and writer’ (that’s what it said in the blurb!) It was a great, lighthearted and funny ending to what was quite a studious day.

I would like to say thank you to Jackie for taking the responsibility of organising the group. It was an amazing time of refreshment, learning and fellowship. I pray that those of us who went will share what we have learnt to keep it fresh in our minds.

Caroline