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.

So here’s the Orange Idea for February: Learn about your family heritage (and God’s amazing creation).

In Genesis 1:27 we read this: “So God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

More on that in a second. But first, here’s the background:

In March there is St. Patrick’s Day. St. Patrick was a man who lived in Ireland more than 1500 years ago. On March 17 many people celebrate Irish heritage. (The word ‘heritage’ means something important that has been handed on to us from the past.) So in March we explore our heritage and ask, Where does YOUR family come from?

In Genesis 1:27 we learn that all humankind is created in God’s image. That means all people—no matter where they are from—are made in God’s image and are loved by him. Isn’t God amazing? Learning about our own heritage helps us know more about ourselves, respect other people, and appreciate God’s amazing creation.

With that in mind, here’s what we challenge and encourage you to do:

Pick up one of the handouts at church (or download it here: Orange Idea – 2017 02 – Handout). See if you can put stickers or dots on the countries where parts of your family are from. Then, flip it over and answer the questions to learn more about your family and God’s amazing creation.

Here are some helpful tips:

• Get everyone involved and put some stickers or dots on the map on the handout.
• Turn it over and answer the questions.
• If you want to go the extra mile, talk about (or find) family pictures from the past. Put faces to the names and talk about where people are from.
• Remember to talk about the meaning of your family name and perhaps even look it up!
• Remember also to discuss how we should treat people who are made in God’s image.

In March, learn about your family heritage and also God’s amazing creation!

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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.