Westminster’s “Orange Idea” is a monthly, family-friendly, 1-page resource to help you live out your faith at home. But what is “Orange,” you might ask?

As Julie and Matthew explained, it’s not just a colour—it’s a way of thinking: Yellow represents the light of Jesus shared by the church. Red represents the blood and bond of the family. So when you put Yellow and Red together you get…

Orange!

So an “Orange idea” is when the church helps people live out their faith in their families and homes. After all, the home is the primary place where faith is formed.

So this monthly resource will help people of different ages learn about and live out their Christian faith in tangible, practical ways.

Here’s December’s Orange Idea: Wait for Jesus’ birth by making and using an Advent Wreath as a family.

Here’s why it’s important.

Waiting for Christmas can be challenging no matter our age. Back in 1839 a pastor created a wreath to help his school children know how long until Christmas. He used white candles for Sundays and red for the rest of the week.

It has since been simplified to just Sundays. So every Sunday in Advent we light a candle as we wait patiently for Jesus to come. One last candle—the Christ Candle—is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.

So together as a family, create and use an advent wreath to light each Sunday before Christmas.

Here are some helpful tips:

1. “Advent” is a Latin word that means “coming.” It refers to the coming of Jesus.

2. If you have young children you may want to use battery operated candles. Or just keep them out of reach after they’re lit. You can even create your wreath out of felt, or draw a picture and add the yellow flame on Sundays.

3. Each candle has a theme: Hope (Purple), Peace (Purple), Joy (Pink) and Love (Purple). The colours can vary. But these are the colours and the order in which they are lit—as you will see each Sunday at Westminster.

4. Each Sunday, pick a time to light a candle together and say a special prayer or read from the Bible as a family. This can be your devotional time.

5. You can also add greenery to remind you of life and growth during winter.

6. On Christmas morning, put a fifth candle in the middle—the Christ Candle—as you welcome the light of Christ into the world!

One of the great Advent Bible verses is from Isaiah 9:2: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

Let’s celebrate (and wait for) that coming light by making and using and advent wreath.

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• The idea about “Orange” being a combination of the light of Jesus shared by the church and the blood and bond of the family is by Reggie Joiner in his book Think Orange.
• You can see Westminster’s page about it (and also previous Orange Ideas) here.