DEEP-DIVE SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE

Based on: "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" Primary Text: Isaiah 43:18-19 Preacher: Dr. Troy Johnson Time: 90-120 minutes

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LEADER PREPARATION

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Overview: This session explores one of Scripture's most surprising rhetorical moves — God recalling His greatest miracle only to tell His people to stop looking at it. Isaiah 43 speaks to a people in transition, and Dr. Johnson brought this ancient word to bear on a congregation navigating a major pastoral transition after 40 years. The question at the heart of this study is: How do we honor what God has done without letting it limit what we expect God to do next?

Big Idea: God's past faithfulness is not a ceiling on what He can do — it's a foundation for trusting Him in an entirely new season.

Essential Background:

• Isaiah 43 is addressed to the people of Israel during or anticipating the Babylonian exile — a moment of profound loss, displacement, and uncertainty about the future
• Verses 16-17 recall the Exodus miracle (Red Sea crossing), then verses 18-19 do something startling: they tell the people not to dwell on it — not because it wasn't real, but because God is about to do something even greater
• The tension between "remember" and "don't remember" is intentional and theologically rich — God is not erasing history; He is expanding expectation
• The Hebrew word for "new thing" (chadashah) carries the sense of something unprecedented, not just different

Preparation Checklist:

• Read Isaiah 43:14-21 twice (in two different translations)
• Review the word studies below and practice saying them aloud
• Think through your own answer to Discussion Question #4 before the group meets
• Identify one person in your group who may be in a personal season of transition — pray for them specifically
• Pray for openness in your group to both honoring the past and expecting the new

Facilitator Encouragement: You don't need to be a biblical scholar to lead this discussion well. Your job is to ask good questions and create space for honest conversation. The Holy Spirit does the real work. Trust the text, trust your group, and trust the process.

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OPENING (5-10 minutes)

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Icebreaker Question:

Think of a time when something ended — a job, a season of life, a relationship, a chapter — and something new began. Looking back, was it easy or hard to let go of what was familiar? What made it hard?

Allow 2-3 people to share briefly. Don't let this run long — it's a warm-up, not the main event.

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TEACHING TIME (15-20 minutes)

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Leader: Share the following in a conversational way — you're not lecturing, you're setting the table for discussion.

HISTORICAL & CULTURAL CONTEXT (5-7 minutes)

Isaiah wrote during one of the most turbulent periods in Israel's history. The nation was facing — or had already experienced — the Babylonian exile: the destruction of Jerusalem, the burning of the Temple, and the forced deportation of God's people to a foreign land. Everything that defined them as a nation was gone.

For the Israelites, the Exodus from Egypt was the defining story of who they were. Every Passover, they retold it. It was their national identity, their proof that God was real and that He was their God. When they wanted to talk about divine power, they pointed to the Red Sea. When they wanted to argue for God's faithfulness, they pointed to Egypt.

So when Isaiah 43 opens with God saying, "I am the one who made a way through the sea" (v. 16), the original audience would have immediately recognized what He was referencing. It was the equivalent of saying, "Remember what I did at the Red Sea?" Every head in the room would have nodded.

And then God does something shocking. He says: "Do not remember the former things."

This is not God dismissing the Exodus. He just brought it up. He's doing something more sophisticated — He's saying, "Don't let your greatest memory become the limit of your expectation." The people were so oriented toward the past miracle that they couldn't see the new thing beginning to emerge right in front of them.

This is the context that makes the sermon's central phrase so powerful: "You ain't seen nothing yet." Not as hype — as theology.

KEY WORD STUDIES (5-7 minutes)

"New thing" — Hebrew: chadashah (khad-ah-SHAH) This word doesn't just mean "different." It carries the sense of something unprecedented — something that has no prior category. It's the same root used in Isaiah 42:10 ("Sing a new song") and in Isaiah 65:17 ("I create new heavens and a new earth"). When God says He will do a chadashah, He's not promising an upgrade. He's promising a category-breaking act. This should radically expand how we pray and what we expect.

"Spring forth" — Hebrew: tsamach (TSAH-makh) This is a agricultural/botanical word — it means to sprout, to bud, to break through the ground. Dr. Johnson's gardening illustration was not accidental. The image is of something organic, living, and growing that pushes up from beneath the surface before it becomes visible above ground. God's new thing often begins underground — in prayer, in preparation, in quiet obedience — before it becomes visible. The question God asks ("Shall you not know it?") implies we should be able to perceive what's emerging if we're paying attention.

"Road" / "Way" — Hebrew: derek (DEH-rek) This is the ordinary Hebrew word for a road or path, but its use here is loaded with Exodus imagery. God made a derek through the sea (v. 16) — and now He promises a derek in the wilderness. The same word, a completely different terrain. The method changes; the Maker doesn't. God is not limited to the geography of your last miracle.

IMPORTANT CROSS-REFERENCES (3-5 minutes)

• Philippians 3:13-14 — Paul uses the language of "forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead." The Greek word for "straining" (epekteinomenos) literally means to stretch the neck forward — like someone craning to see what's coming. Dr. Johnson referenced this image directly.

• Lamentations 3:22-23 — "His mercies are new every morning." The same Hebrew root (chadash) as "new thing" in Isaiah 43. God's newness is not occasional — it is the rhythm of His character.

• Revelation 21:5 — "Behold, I am making all things new." The ultimate fulfillment of the "new thing" promise — God's final and complete renewal of all creation. Isaiah 43 is a foretaste of the end of the story.

• Romans 4:17-21 — Abraham "against hope believed in hope" — he trusted God for something that had no precedent in his experience. This is the posture Isaiah 43 calls us to.

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SCRIPTURE READING & OBSERVATION (10-15 min)

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Read Isaiah 43:14-21 aloud — ideally in two translations (suggest NIV and ESV, or NKJV and NLT).

After reading, give the group 2 minutes of quiet to sit with the text. Then ask:

Observation Questions:

1. What words or phrases are repeated in this passage? What might the repetition signal?

2. What surprises you most about this passage? Is there anything that seems contradictory or unexpected?

3. God says "Behold" (v. 18, 19) — an attention-demanding word. What is He specifically drawing our eyes toward?

4. What questions does this passage raise for you that you'd like to explore today?

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DEEP DIVE DISCUSSION (40-50 minutes)

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SECTION A: UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT

1. In verses 16-17, God specifically recalls the Exodus — then immediately says "do not remember the former things." How do you reconcile that? Is God contradicting Himself, or is He making a more nuanced point?

[Leader Tip: This is the central tension of the text — let the group wrestle with it. If they get stuck, ask: "What's the difference between honoring a memory and being held captive by it?" The goal is to help them see that God is expanding expectation, not erasing history.]

2. The passage says the new thing is already beginning to "spring forth" — and God asks, "Shall you not know it?" (v. 19). What does it mean to perceive what God is doing? What might prevent someone from seeing what's already emerging?

3. God promises "a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." Wilderness and desert are both places of scarcity and disorientation. Why do you think God specifically promises provision in those environments rather than promising to remove them?

[Leader Tip: This question often unlocks deep personal sharing. Resist the urge to answer it too quickly yourself. The theological point is that God's new thing doesn't always mean the removal of difficulty — it means His presence and provision within it.]

4. Dr. Johnson made a distinction between God's contractual agreement and His covenant faithfulness. What's the difference, and why does it matter for how we relate to God in seasons of uncertainty?

SECTION B: THEOLOGICAL CONNECTIONS

5. The sermon suggested that Israel's greatest miracle — the Exodus — had become a kind of ceiling on their expectations. How does this happen theologically? Why would a genuine, powerful encounter with God potentially become a limitation on future faith?

6. Dr. Johnson described God as "the source, not a resource." How does treating God as a resource (something we draw on when needed) differ from relating to Him as the source of all things? What does that shift look like practically in prayer and in daily life?

[Leader Tip: This is a rich theological distinction. A resource is finite and can be depleted; a source is the origin point. If the group goes shallow, push further: "How does this change what you ask God for? How does it change how you respond when He doesn't answer the way you expected?"]

7. Isaiah 43 was written to a community in transition, not just an individual. How does that corporate dimension change how we read the promises in this passage? What does it mean for a church — not just a person — to trust God for something new?

SECTION C: CONTEMPORARY APPLICATION

8. The sermon posed this question as a personal challenge: "Tell me who you are without telling me what you do." Why is that so difficult? How does our identity becoming fused with our role or assignment affect our ability to embrace new seasons?

9. Dr. Johnson used the image of cheap soil that nurtures a plant but can't support growth — and suggested that sometimes our environment (including our relationships and community) determines whether new things can grow in our lives. How do you evaluate whether your current environment is conducive to growth or to staying stuck?

[Leader Tip: This question can get personal quickly — in a good way. Make sure the group knows this isn't about criticizing their church or friendships, but about honest self-examination. Follow up with: "What would it look like to cultivate better soil in your life right now?"]

10. The sermon named three responses to God's "new thing": (1) honor the past without living there, (2) expect God to do something new, and (3) pay attention to what's emerging. Which of these three is hardest for you personally, and why?

11. Dr. Johnson said, "We can celebrate yesterday so much that we stop expecting anything from God for tomorrow." Where do you see this pattern — in your own life, in the church broadly, or in culture? What does it look like to recalibrate toward expectation without dishonoring what God has already done?

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PERSONAL APPLICATION (15-20 minutes)

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Leader: Invite the group to take 2-3 minutes of quiet reflection before answering these questions. Let silence do its work.

Reflection Questions:

1. Is there a "former thing" in your life — a past season, a past version of yourself, a past way God worked — that you may be clinging to in a way that's limiting your expectation for what He wants to do now?

2. What "new thing" might God be causing to "spring forth" in your life right now — something that's still underground, still small, still hard to see — that you need to start paying attention to?

3. What would it look like for you to actively expect God to move in the next 30 days — not passively hope, but genuinely orient your prayers and your posture toward anticipation?

This Week Challenge:

Choose one specific area of your life where you have quietly stopped expecting God to move. This week, write a prayer — even one sentence — that expresses active expectation in that area. Pray it every morning. Come back next week ready to share what shifted in your perspective, even if nothing has visibly changed yet.

Optional: If your group is in a season of transition together — new leadership, new direction, new ministry season — consider praying together this week using Isaiah 43:19 as a declaration: "God, we believe You are doing a new thing. Give us eyes to perceive it."

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PRAYER & CLOSING (10 minutes)

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Suggested Prayer Focus:

Close by praying in three movements — you can do this as a group prayer, in pairs, or led by the facilitator:

1. Gratitude — Thank God for specific ways He has been faithful in the past. Name them out loud. Let the testimony be real.

2. Release — Ask God to loosen your grip on "former things" that may be limiting your expectation. This is not about forgetting — it's about surrendering the past as the measure of what God can do.

3. Expectation — Pray forward. Ask God to open your eyes to what is already springing forth — in your life, in your family, in your church, in your community.

Closing Word for the Leader:

Before you dismiss, remind your group: The sermon was the invitation. This study was the deeper dive. But the real work happens in the days ahead — in quiet moments, in honest prayer, in the courage to expect something new from a God who has never once run out of new things to do.

You ain't seen nothing yet.

This guide was developed for small groups desiring deeper engagement with Scripture. Reproduce freely for group use.