Table of Contents

  • Day 1 - Friday, February 13

    • Check-In Icebreaker Questions

    • Session 1 Small Group Questions

  • Day 2 - Saturday, February 14

    • Session 2 Small Group Questions

    • Breakout Small Group Questions

    • Session 3 Small Group Questions

  • Day 3 - Sunday, February 15

    • Check-In Fun & Reflection Questions

Day 1 - February 13th

Check-In Icebreakers:

Make a connection:

  • What school do you go to?

  • Do you do any extracurriculars (like sports, theater, band/orchestra, etc.)?

  • What is one hot take you have that you feel super passionate about?

  • What is your favorite tiny pleasure in life?

  • What superpower would you not want to have? Why?

  • Are you a traveler or a homebody?

  • If you could travel to one place right now where would you go?

  • If you were hosting a dinner party and could invite 5 people, living or dead, who would you invite?

  • Would you rather be the funniest person in the room or the smartest?

  • What actor would play you in a movie about your life?

  • When was the last time you tried a new food? Did you like it?

  • Describe your perfect day.

Go a little deeper:

  • What’s frustrating you in life right now?

  • What is bringing you the most joy in life right now?

  • What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you?

  • What goal are you trying to achieve this year?

  • What takes up too much of your time?

  • What are you hoping to experience this weekend at WinterCon?

  • Is the Lord talking to you about anything lately? What is it?

  • Think about going back to school next week. What do you want to be true after WinterCon?

  • What do you want us to hold you accountable to this weekend as we experience WinterCon together?

Session 1 - Small Group Discussion

In this first official small group time, it’s a great time to set the tone for the entire weekend, communicate group expectations, and begin having intentional conversations as you discern and observe the “spiritual temperature” of your group.

DO:

  • Remember your training & trust the Lord. You’re here in this group with these students for a reason.

  • Embrace the awkward pause. Your kids need thinking time. It’s normal for it to take some time for them to get comfortable.

  • Share the time with your co-leader. Both of your voices are helpful and valuable for the group.

  • Guide the conversation. When you get off topic, gently bring them back to productive conversation.

  • Read scripture together.

DON’T:

  • Give another sermon. Remember, talk about 20% of the time and listen 80% of the time.

  • Let side-conversations and distractions rule. Enforce phones being put away and remind students, “we’re having one group conversation.”

  • Feel stuck to the guide. This is a starting place for you, but not the end-all, be-all. As you actively listen to and observe your students, other questions might come to you that are more helpful to them as they process the session. Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit more closely than this guide.

  • Forget about next steps. Knowledge and learning is great, but we don’t want it to stop there. Help your students discern their best next step (no matter how small) and help them take action.

Discussion Questions:

  • Did anything keep coming up for you during worship? What do you sense the Lord saying to you?

  • What did Pastor DB say that really stood out to you?

  • What questions do you have about anything that was said? What are you wrestling with?

  • How do you resonate with the theme of “Together”?

    • Do you sense a need in your community (family, friends, team, etc.) for unity and togetherness?

    • Why is it so easy for division to creep into the body of Christ?

  • Did this session make you think differently about God or the church? What did you notice that you’ve never noticed before?

  • Check back here for a couple of questions related to the sermon, updated live.

Day 2 - February 14th

Note: The “Quiet Time” Devotional is in the WinterCon booklet as well as available digitally for your students. See the devo leader companion guide here.

Session 2 - Small Group Discussion

Check In:

  • What is one word to describe how you’re feeling this morning?

  • Are you still processing anything from last night? What is it?

Help them process the session and Quiet Time:

  • What did you do, read, think about during Quiet Time just now?

  • What common themes did you notice in worship, the sermon, and quiet time?

  • Did you hear anything over and over again that you sense the Lord wants you to pay attention to?

Pay attention to common themes and shared ideas. Fill in your own questions here & follow where the conversation is naturally leading:

  • I’m hearing a few of you talking about _________.

  • What does the scripture we’ve studied so far say about ________? What wisdom can we take from this scripture as we navigate [these situations] in our lives?

  • From the Together Devo: Think about other believers you are close to. How does knowing that Jesus desires for you to be united “as one” change the way you think about them? What is one way you can commit to fighting for unity in your community even when it’s hard? 

Pray together.

Breakouts - Small Group Discussion

Note: High School and Middle School Breakouts are split.

Middle School Breakout

Catch Up:

  • What makes someone easy or hard to be friends with?

  • Have you ever felt left out or lonely?

  • What do you think makes a good friend?

Read Proverbs 13:20.

  • How do friends influence the choices we make?

  • Why does God care about who we spend time with?

  • How can friends help us grow closer to God?

Read Proverbs 17:17.

  • What does it mean that a friend loves “at all times”?

  • How is a real friend different from a fake one?

  • How can you show love to your friends?

Read Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.

  • Why does God say life is better with others?

  • How can friends help us when things are hard?

  • Why doesn’t God want us to do life alone?

Application:

  • What qualities should we look for in friends?

  • Are any friendships making it harder to follow God?

  • How can we set good boundaries with friends?

  • How can we include people who feel left out?

Commit & Pray:

  • Who is someone you can be a better friend to this week?

  • What is one step you can take to build healthy friendships?

  • What friendships do you need to pray about?

Close in prayer, asking God to help your students choose wise friends and be loving, faithful friends.

High School Breakout

  • Do you believe relational conflict is always a bad thing? Why or why not? If not, how might that conflict be something positive?

  • Share about a time when you encountered significant relational conflict. How did your faith and understanding of God’s word help you to navigate that conflict? If you feel you didn’t handle that situation well, how would you do it differently now?

  • What importance do you see in having relational boundaries in your life? Do you think it is possible to go too far with those boundaries? Reflect on the place you think relational boundaries should hold in a person’s life.

  • Colossians 3:13 states that Christians are to “Bear with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.” What does it look like to practically apply this in our lives, particularly when dealing with “toxic” people or situations?

  • Do you think it is possible to forgive someone without the desire to restore relationship? How would respond to someone who said they forgive you but don’t want anything to do with you? Could there be a circumstance in which that is actually what is needed? 

Session 3 - Small Group Discussion

Discussion Questions:

  • Did anything keep coming up for you during worship? What do you sense the Lord saying to you?

  • What did Pastor DB say that really stood out to you?

  • What questions do you have about anything that was said? What are you wrestling with?

  • Did this session make you think differently about God or the church? What did you notice that you’ve never noticed before?

  • Check back here for a couple of questions related to the sermon, updated live.

Day 3 - February 15th

Check-In Fun & Reflection Questions

  • What was your biggest takeaway from WinterCon?

  • What did you sense the Lord saying to you this weekend?

  • Would you say your faith has deepened after this weekend?

  • Who did you grow closer to this weekend?

  • What next step did you take this weekend we can celebrate with you?

  • What commitments did you make before the Lord this weekend we can help hold you accountable to?

  • What was the most interesting thing you learned this weekend? (Could be serious or fun!)

  • If a walk-in song played every time you walked in a room, what song would you choose to play?

  • What food do you unreasonably hate and why?

  • Show us your signature dance move.

  • What mythical creature doesn’t exist but you wish did?

  • If you could hang out with any cartoon character, who would you choose to hang out with?