Voices In My Head (The Rick Lee James Podcast)

chevron_right

Voices in My Head Podcast – Episode 605: Christmas Cards - A Christmas Sermon by Rick Lee James

Dec 10, 2025

19:37

forum

Ask episode

view_agenda

Chapters

auto_awesome

Transcript

info_circle

Episode notes

Voices in My Head Podcast – Episode 605: Christmas Cards - A Christmas Sermon by Rick Lee James

Voices in My Head (The Rick Lee James Podcast)

Episode 605: The God Who Lets Us Carry Him

In this special Advent/Christmas episode, chaplain, songwriter, and host Rick Lee James shares a chapel message from Springfield Regional Medical Center titled “The God Who Lets Us Carry Him.”

Drawing from Jeremiah 10:5 and Matthew 2:13–18, Rick explores the tension between:

Idols that must be carried because they are lifeless
And Jesus, God in the flesh, who chooses to be carried as a vulnerable baby

Rather than the soft, sentimental scenes we see on many Christmas cards, Rick invites us into the real world Jesus was born into—a world of:

A small, ordinary village (Bethlehem)
Roman occupation and political fear
Herod’s brutality and the Massacre of the Innocents
Refugee families fleeing in the night
Grieving mothers and real human sorrow

From there, he proclaims the hope of Christmas:

that God does not wait for a perfect world to show up, but enters the world as it actually is—vulnerable, dependent, “carry-able” in human arms. This is a God who walks at three miles an hour, slowing down to move at human speed, to stop, to touch, to weep, to heal, and even to entrust Himself to us.

Along the way, Rick reflects on:

Jeremiah’s image of idols as “scarecrows in a cucumber field”
How idols only gain “power” when we give them our imagination
Historical background on Herod the Great and Bethlehem’s likely size
The courage and defiant hope of a God who lets Himself be carried by Mary and Joseph
The contrast between Hallmark-style Christmas and the raw honesty of the Gospel

The episode concludes with Rick’s original song “Christmas Cards,” a musical meditation on the parts of the story we don’t usually see on our mantels—the fear, the flight, the soldiers in the streets—and the deeper hope that God is greater than the version of Christmas our cards describe.

Scriptures referenced in this episode:

Jeremiah 10:5 – “Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field; they cannot speak; they have to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”
Matthew 2:13–18 – The flight into Egypt and the Massacre of the Innocents

Highlights:

Why a God who chooses to be carried is the opposite of a powerless idol
How the first Christmas speaks hope into fear, grief, and injustice
“A God small enough to be carried is a God big enough to save the world.”
Closing performance of Rick’s original song “Christmas Cards”

Connect with Rick Lee James:

Website: RickLeeJames.com
Music & merch: search “Rick Lee James” on your favorite music platform
Subscribe, rate, and review Voices in My Head wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hosted by: Rick Lee James — Voices in My Head Podcast

Get the Audiobook, Out of the Depths: A Songwriter’s Journey Through the Psalms by your host, Rick Lee James, on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0F45G6KWH?qid=1744142727&sr=1-1&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=KEDVV78ASDMS52WQFD7W&plink=3YmaWg4y0HJ0Cjfc&pageLoadId=IaamycyuJR519uYD&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1%20

----more----

Don’t forget about our music sale on Bandcamp.

Use the code “10off” on RickLeeJames.Bandcamp.com to get 10% off your purchase.

Blessings,

Rick Lee James

Email: Rick@RickLeeJames.com

Don’t forget about our music sale on Bandcamp.

Use the code “10off” on RickLeeJames.Bandcamp.com to get 10% off your purchase.

Blessings,

Rick Lee James

Email: Rick@RickLeeJames.com

Blessings,

Rick Lee James

Get the new song - Whatever You Do

VINYL SALE

THUNDER by Rick Lee James

ONLY $9.99. (Plus you get a free digital download of the album)

VINYL SALE -

“KEEP WATCH, DEAR LORD” BY RICK LEE JAMES 🎸🎹

Available On ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS

https://show.co/Lz0h35H

Thank you for listening!

10% Off Everything Rick Lee James on Band camp

Instructions

Visit

https://rickleejames.bandcamp.com

At checkout use code: 10off

Web Site:

https://rickleejames.com

PURCHASE ALBUM: www.RickLeeJames.Bandcamp.com

SongSelect: https://songselect.ccli.com/Songs/6152291/advent-hymn-watching-waiting-longing
Downloadable Charts and More available from LIFEWAYWORSHIP.COM: https://worship.lifeway.com/findAndBuy/songPage/AdventHymn(Watching%2CWaiting%2CLonging)?versionId=93901&rowNum=0&searchString=Advent%20Hymn%20(watching,%20Waiting,%20Longing)#song-Parts
Loop Community: https://loopcommunity.com/en-us/songs/advent-hymn-(watching%2C-waiting%2C-longing)-by-rick-lee-james-3892

Endorsements:

“A perfect and needed addition to any Christmas playlist this year. Rick Lee James bringing home the Advent Message.”

-CCM Magazine https://www.ccmmagazine.com/music-video/rick-lee-james-advent-hymn-watching-waiting-longing/

“I love Advent Hymn (Watching, Waiting, Longing), which gives newness to the phrases of Isaiah. Watching, waiting, and longing is what we do now, and these songs help us do that in confidence. I anticipate that this album will be received as a great gift by many who will find their faith nourished and awakened by it.”

–Walter Brueggemann (Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary)

"I've watched Rick grow as an artist and songwriter for many years. Congratulations brother on an excellent independent release."

-Paul Baloche (Dove Award Winning Songwriter)

"Rick Lee James is a poet and singer. You will not only enjoy listening, you'll be drawn into the source –Jesus."

-Mike Harland

RICK LEE JAMES INFO

Web Sites:

https://www.rickleejames.com

Get The Single:

https://rickleejames.hearnow.com/halls