GREETINGS! 

The First United Methodist Church of Stoughton  extends a warm welcome to you and your family in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Whether you visit us here on the web or visit us when you come to Stoughton, Massachusetts, we hope you will be  blessed.    We are a small diverse congregation and welcome all to share the joy of the Lord with us.  Besides the Methodist congregation, there is a Brazilian Baptist  congregation which shares the same worship space-two distinctly different congregations worshipping under the same roof!    We embrace our cultural differences and celebrate our unity in Jesus Christ who is our one Lord and Savior.  We are one body in His precious Name. We invite you to join us in praising the Lord together for He is our salvation and our blessed hope. 

Sunday Worship Times:

9:30 a.m. - Sunday School & Adult Bible Study

10:30 a.m.* - Sunday worship

(*please note that worship time changes to 9:30 a.m. for the summer from the 2nd Sunday in June to the Sunday after Labor Day in September)

FROM THE PASTOR'S HEART

New days have come!

Every year people make New Year’s resolutions and enjoy the atmosphere that is created by the new days of the year, exchanging gifts, and being with friends and family. To us, as Christians, new days began quite a while ago with Advent starting back in November. To some people New Year’s day is nothing really new because every year the same Christmas, the same New Year’s Day, and the same resolutions happen, and meanings are easily forgotten.

What does newness mean to you? Is the new year and New Year’s Day anything new to you? Why do we celebrate these events at all?

Paul in 2 Cor 5:17 says, “if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” We do not just wait for things to become new for us. We ourselves should become NEW. It is not new days that make us new people. It is we who give things new meaning. Encountering a person we don’t know and saying a warm "Hello" and "Merry Christmas!" will change us. Reaching out to one of our friends whom we have not seen in a while can deepen that relationship.

I hope everybody has a chance to think about what becoming a new person means and how we can make things new on this New Year’s Day and in the year to come.

NEW YEAR PRAYER

O Guiding Light who knows the thoughts and intents of all people help me always to possess a seeking heart  that will lead me to Your truth just like the wise men of long ago.  May Your Spirit guide me on my daily journey through the dark wilderness of this world just as your long ago bright star.  Let me take courage and listen attentively to Your divine nudgings to that I am not lead astray by the cunning plans of fools, like Herod, who hated You.  Instead Lord, may I be open to hear Your gentle voice and return home to You, Loving God, by a different way than the world offers so that I may experience the inexplicable joy that comes from being guided by and bathed in Your holy light.  May my gifts of praise, joy and thanksgiving be as the gold, frankincense and myrrh of the ancient magi in worshipping You, my Savior and King.