Voices in my Head: The Rick Lee James Podcast - Episode 624: Pentecost 2026

Good afternoon for those of you that are watching today from your rooms, and maybe you're watching on our video at a later time. I'm Chaplain Rick Lee James, and this is our midweek non-denominational Christian service. Thank you for being here today. We're going to start by singing a song called Fire, which is about Pentecost. And this coming Sunday in our houses of worship, we will be celebrating the holiday really the birthday of the church, Pentecost. So today we're going to sing about it, and this song is called Fire, made popular by CeCe Winans.

Fire, fall on us. Fire, fire, fall on us. Start a new revival. Fire, fall on us. Like He did on the day of Pentecost, rushing in like a mighty wind, fill us up with His presence and power. Lord, move with again —by your glory and your grace. You consume us with your love. Give us more and more of who you are. We can't get enough. Oh, fire, fire, fall on us. Start a new revival. Fire, fall on us. Sing that one more time. Fire, fire, fire.

All right, we love that song. I love Pentecost and getting to sing about that. And today I'm going to be talking a little about Pentecost, but mostly what we're going to be doing is inviting each of us to listen to God's word and allow God to just simply speak to us through his word today. Before we do that, I want to start with an opening prayer, and we just want to say a prayer for everyone today in our hospital as well as we pray. So let's come together for this moment. Lord, we ask your help in this time. We say a lot of things about wanting the Holy Spirit in our life, but sometimes I wonder how well we listen and what kinds of disciples we are. And in the moments that matter most, like when we're in the hospital, Lord, it is so clear that we need we need you. And we pray for all of our patients today, for their family members, for each staff member that cares for them. We pray you would comfort, we pray you would offer healing strength, and that the presence of the Holy Spirit would be so real in this hospital that everyone who walks through these doors would say, "Oh my, something is different about that place." something wonderful is there, that God's love is so real. And even if they don't have words for it, Lord, we pray that they would experience the presence of your Holy Spirit in this very moment today. And I pray all these things asking in the holy name of Jesus. Amen. So today we are going to do something a little different than we often do. I'm not sure I have ever done this in a service like this one. I've led it this way, um, in meetings with youth groups and with small group gatherings, but we're sort of a small group gathering here in the chapel today. We're going to do something called Lectio Divina, and it is a Latin phrase which means sacred reading. It's a way of reading the Bible that is ancient, where you allow scripture to speak to you, and you allow God to speak to you through the scripture. We don't necessarily take time to analyze a passage or say lots of things about it, but what we do is we slow down, we listen with our hearts, with our emotions, maybe with our memories, and just allow God to speak to our spirits as we hear the word. I'll be reading the same passage 3 times today. And especially as we're in a hospital setting, I know that many of us come carrying a great deal of things. We may have worries that are in our hearts today. We may be feeling exhausted. We might have grief. We might have uncertainty for the future. We might just be needing hope as we come in here today. And maybe there is a need for just simply a quiet moment. So as I read the scripture today, take notice of a word, a phrase, maybe an image, maybe even just a feeling that stands out to you as you hear the word read today. There are no wrong answers that we're looking for. There's not necessarily going to be a quiz about anything that we're reading about today. There may be good conversation that comes from it later, but for right now we don't want to force anything. We just want to open our hearts to listen to the Word of God. And if silence feels uncomfortable, that's okay. It feels uncomfortable for everybody once in a while. We want to embrace even that. Fred Rogers, one of my heroes, Mr. Rogers, he used to pray a simple prayer every day before he would go into his studio to to record his television show, and that prayer was this: Lord, let some word that is heard be yours. And I think that's a wonderful prayer for us to pray as we enter in to listen to God's word today. So Lord, our prayer today, let some word that is heard be yours. So after I read this passage, we're just gonna sit quietly for a moment. We're gonna pause. And just allow it to speak to us. And I want you to think of a word or a phrase that stands out to you the first time I read it through. Just see what is resting on your heart and in your mind. This is the Pentecost Sunday— it comes, uh, Pentecost Sunday passage. It comes from Acts chapter 2, begins with verse 1, and it just says this: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked, "Aren't all these Are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya near Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues. Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine." So that's our first reading. Just to yourself, think, what word or phrase was standing out to me? As I read it a second time, I want you to not only think about the words and phrases that that stood out to you from the first time, but also I want you to ask, where do you find yourself in this story? Or maybe what part of this passage is connecting to your life right now? When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven, When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked, "Aren't all of these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues. Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine." So where do you find yourself in that story today? What part of the passage connects with your life right now? And as I read this passage for the third and final time, at least in our time together today, I want to ask this question too: What invitation might God be placing before you in this passage? Or what might the Spirit be stirring within you? Today. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked, "Aren't all these who are speaking Galileans?" Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya near Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues. Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, what does this mean? Some, however, made fun of them and said, they have had too much wine. So what invitation might God be placing before you you through this passage? What might the Spirit be stirring within you today? One of the beautiful things about Pentecost is that the miracle was not that everybody became the same. The miracle was that people heard the good news in a way they could understand, no matter who they were. In a world that can feel very noisy and very divided, the Spirit still moves us towards understanding and connection. Not to make us all exactly like each other, but the Spirit stretches to go where everyone is, to show the love of God to each person, and to unite us together as different people from different places. So we're going to close today with this passage still hopefully just speaking to us. And as you go through the day, I would just ask that you continue to invite God to speak to you about what you've heard today. Maybe there is a word or a phrase or a place you're finding yourself in life, or you're sensing an invitation to something new through a passage like like this. And as we end our time together today, we're going to close in prayer and then sing a song. It's on 732 in our hymnals that says 'I Then Shall Live,' which is one of my very favorite hymns that describes what it means to live out the Holy Spirit-filled life, what it means to live out the gospel. But before we sing that today, let's close with this prayer. Holy Spirit, meet us in our listening, in our wondering, and in our weariness, and in our hope. Help us to hear your voice amid the noise of life. Give comfort to those who are afraid today. Give strength to those who are tired. Give peace to those who are hurting and wisdom to those who care for others. May your presence surround this hospital, these patients, these families, and these caregivers with grace and peace. Amen. And let's sing together from 732 in the hymnal. It's a song written by Gloria Gaither. It says, I then shall live as one who's Who's Been Forgiven. Let's sing it together today, 732.

I then shall live as one who's been forgiven. I'll walk with joy. To know my debts are paid. I'll know my name is clear before my Father. I am his child and I am not afraid. So baby, depart, and I'll forgive my brother. The law of love I gladly will obey. I then shall live as one who's learned compassion. I've been so loved that I'll risk loving too. I'll know how fear builds walls instead of bridges. I'll dare to see another's point of view. And when relations Relationships demand commitment. Then I'll be there to care and follow through. Your kingdom come around and through and in me. Your power and glory Let them shine through me. Your hallowed name, O may I bear with honor, and may your living kingdom come in me. The bread of life, Oh, may I share with others, and may you feed a hungry world through me. And may you feed a hungry world through me.

Well, we want to thank you all for joining us today for this non-denominational chapel service here at Springfield Regional Medical Center. May God bless you today, no matter what it is you're facing, no matter what it is your loved ones are facing. And we want you to know that our chaplains are always available to you. If you request us from your nurse, we are happy to come by, and they are glad to contact us. You can also call the operator and ask them— just request a chaplain, and we will do our best to come by as soon as we can. We would be honored to accompany you through whatever you are experiencing today. God bless you, and may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you his peace. Amen.