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Phone a Friend | Week 2 | Daniel Goulding | Echoes Church · Rewind

Echoes Church

32 min

Daniel Goulding · Apr 20, 2026 · 4 min read · 32 min listen

The big idea

Before Christians ask how to vote, they must remember who they are — citizens of heaven, the body of Christ, and salt and light — and let that identity, not political passion, shape their conduct.

In this message

The big idea
Point 1 of 7We are citizens of heaven first, and that citizenship orders our conduct before it orders our politics.
Point 2 of 7We are ambassadors sent to plead for reconciliation with God, not to plead for a party or candidate.

Point 3 of 7We are the body of Christ, and the world should see love, not division, when they look at the church.
Point 4 of 7The body of Christ, not government, is assigned to care for the marginalized, orphans, widows, and immigrants.
Point 5 of 7We are salt and light, called to slow moral decay and illuminate Jesus as the real solution people are searching for in politics.
Point 6 of 7Christians should vote for biblical values, because sitting out the process hands the void to darkness.
Point 7 of 7Christians should consider public service and pray more than they post.
Take it into your week
Transcript

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Scripture in this message

Philippians 1:27
Philippians 3:17
John 18
2 Corinthians 5
John 13:34
Romans 13

Rewind AI drafted the Big Idea and some point headings shown here from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Daniel Goulding · Apr 20, 2026 · 32 min watch · 2 min read

Phone a Friend | Week 2 | Daniel Goulding | Echoes Church

In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

Philippians 1:27
Philippians 3:17
John 18
2 Corinthians 5
John 13:34
Romans 13

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Before Christians ask how to vote, they must remember who they are — citizens of heaven, the body of Christ, and salt and light — and let that identity, not political passion, shape their conduct.

Christians can engage politics with hope rather than fear, because our deepest identity is not American but heavenly, and our primary mission is spiritual, not political. Pastor Daniel calls the church to vote out of biblical conviction, consider public service, and pray more than they post, while never letting political loyalty override love for one another or the mission of the gospel.

Key points

1
1We are citizens of heaven first, and that citizenship orders our conduct before it orders our politics.
Pastor Daniel walks through Philippians 1:27 and 3:17-20, showing that Paul commands believers to live worthy of the gospel and warns that forgetting our heavenly residence tempts us to make too much of this life, even becoming what Paul calls enemies of the cross. He points to Jesus's words in John 18 that His kingdom is not of this world as the model for how citizens of heaven relate to earthly politics.
2
2We are ambassadors sent to plead for reconciliation with God, not to plead for a party or candidate.
Using 2 Corinthians 5, Pastor Daniel explains that as Christ's ambassadors our appeal to the world is come back to God, not vote for a particular person, and warns against letting passion for our earthly residence override our heavenly responsibility.
3
3We are the body of Christ, and the world should see love, not division, when they look at the church.
He unpacks John 13:34, Jesus's new commandment to love one another, and grieves that Christians are cutting off family and friends over political disagreement, citing statistics that one in five Americans have cut off family and one in three have strained relationships over politics. He states plainly that if your politics cause you to cut people off, your politics have become your god.
4
4The body of Christ, not government, is assigned to care for the marginalized, orphans, widows, and immigrants.
Pastor Daniel says the church shouldn't wait on government to do what God has called His people to do, pointing to Romans 13 for why government exists while insisting the church remain the hands and feet of Jesus for the vulnerable.
5
5We are salt and light, called to slow moral decay and illuminate Jesus as the real solution people are searching for in politics.
He explains the first-century function of salt as a preservative against decay and applies it to the church's role of slowing cultural decline, while light points people to Christ rather than to a politician, arguing Christianity doesn't depend on America but America depends on Christianity.
6
6Christians should vote for biblical values, because sitting out the process hands the void to darkness.
He cites that 30 to 40 million Christians didn't vote in the last presidential election and that key states were decided by fewer than 50,000 votes, urging believers to vote their conscience for politicians and policies that let the church stay the church, and clarifying that separation of church and state restrains government from the church, not the reverse.
7
7Christians should consider public service and pray more than they post.
He points to Jay Feeley from the church who ran for congress, and to Joseph, Daniel, Esther, David, Nehemiah, and Paul as biblical examples of believers engaging governing systems, then closes by challenging the congregation to pray for leaders, including praying for Joe Biden and Donald Trump by name, as much as they post and critique online.

Application

Pastor Daniel frames the charge as remembering who we are before deciding how we vote, then acting on it through voting, service, and prayer.

Guard your conduct over your candidate
Don't let passion for a party override the conduct of a citizen of heaven; refuse to cut off family or friends over political disagreement, since love has to supersede everything.
Vote out of biblical conviction
Search the scriptures and show up to vote for policies and politicians who will let the church remain the church, rather than sitting out the process.
Consider stepping into public service
Ask whether God is calling you to a school board, city council, or higher office, following the example of believers like Joseph, Daniel, Esther, and Nehemiah who served within governing systems.
Pray more than you post
Pray for leaders you agree with and disagree with, including by name, at least as often as you comment on or critique them online.
Pursue reconciliation where you've cut someone off
If political disagreement has severed a relationship, let the Holy Spirit convict you to forgive and pursue reconciliation this week.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“Paul says in Philippians chapter one verse 27, he says above all, k, above everything else, you must. He doesn't say I encourage you to, you should consider”
Read the whole chapter →
From the transcript
“Paul continues in Philippians chapter three and he kinda goes down the rabbit hole of what happens when you forget that your residency is in heaven and not on this earth”
From the transcript
“Jesus in John chapter 18 says that my kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders”
From the transcript
“Paul says, second Corinthians chapter five, we are Christ's ambassadors. What mean what it means is that we have been sent from heaven, our citizenship that we will inherit one day”
From the transcript
“John chapter 13 verse 34, here's where Jesus tells us what the body is supposed to look like. He says, so now I'm giving you a new commandment, love each other”
From the transcript
“Again, there's a place, there's a there's a reason that government exists. It's not it was not man's idea. Government was God's idea. Go read Romans chapter 13. It tells us why government exists”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

Before this sermon told us how to act, it asked us to remember who we are. Paul writes, "You must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ." Notice the order. Conduct flows from citizenship. Long before any ballot is cast or any post is shared, we belong to a kingdom that no election can win or lose. That changes everything about how we carry ourselves in a polarized moment. When our deepest identity is settled in Christ, we don't have to grasp for security in a candidate or a cause. We can engage the issues of our day with conviction and still keep our peace, because our hope was never riding on the outcome in the first place. The pastor reminded us that the church's job is not to elect a savior but to proclaim the One who already is. That reality can reorder your week before it even begins. Take a moment today to name where your sense of safety has quietly migrated from heaven to headlines. Then come back home. You are first and foremost a citizen of heaven, and that citizenship is meant to shape every ordinary hour.

For reflection

Where has my sense of security drifted away from Christ and onto an earthly outcome?

Pray

Pray for a settled heart that finds its security in your heavenly citizenship before anything else.

Day 2

Paul writes with tears about people who had become "enemies of the cross of Christ" because "their god is their appetite" and they were "thinking only about this life here on earth." Then he lifts our eyes: "But we are citizens of heaven." The sermon warned that forgetting this can make us make too much of earthly politics. It's a sobering thought—that good people, even religious people, can drift into setting their minds entirely on things below. Political passion isn't evil, but it can swell until it crowds out the cross. When that happens, our affections quietly bow to something smaller than Jesus. Today's invitation isn't to care less about the world; it's to set our minds higher, so that everything earthly finds its proper, smaller place. Ask honestly what occupies your thoughts in spare moments—what you scroll for, argue about, lose sleep over. None of that is forbidden, but it can become a god if we're not watching. Paul's remedy isn't guilt; it's remembering. We are citizens of heaven, awaiting a Savior who will transform our humble bodies. Let that anticipation pull your gaze upward today.

For reflection

What earthly concern has been occupying the place in my mind that belongs to Christ?

Pray

Pray for the Spirit to reorder your affections so the cross stays central.

Day 3

"So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us." An ambassador represents another country while living in this one. Their words and conduct aren't their own—they carry the message of the One who sent them. The sermon pressed this point: our primary message to the world is reconciliation to God, not allegiance to a political party. That's a clarifying filter for everything we say in public. Before you speak or share, you might ask: does this make God's appeal clearer, or does it bury the gospel under a partisan banner? The pastor warned us not to sacrifice our witness on the altar of political argument. An ambassador who picks fights on behalf of his own opinions stops representing his King well. This isn't a call to silence on the issues that matter—it's a call to remember the message we carry is bigger than any of them. The greatest news a neighbor could hear from you isn't your take on a candidate; it's that God invites them to be reconciled to Him. Let that be the headline of your life. Your conduct is part of the message, so let Christ-like character outpace political passion.

For reflection

Does the way I speak online and in person make God's appeal clearer or harder to hear?

Pray

Pray for wisdom to represent Christ faithfully in your words this week.

Day 4

"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." Jesus said this is how the world would know we belong to Him. Not by our political alignment, not by our arguments won, but by our love. The sermon was direct: political disagreement must never become a permanent dividing line among believers. That's harder than it sounds. In a polarized moment, it's tempting to quietly file fellow Christians into "us" and "them" based on how they vote, and to let the warmth drain out of relationships that Jesus bought with His own blood. But the body of Christ is identified above all by love. If you've felt that distance creeping in toward a brother or sister, today is an invitation to close the gap—not by pretending differences don't exist, but by refusing to let them rule. Growing in community means staying at the table with people who don't see everything the way you do. The world is watching how we treat each other. Let them see something it cannot explain apart from Jesus: a love that holds when opinions don't.

For reflection

Is there a fellow believer I've quietly written off over a political difference?

Pray

Pray for one specific brother or sister you disagree with, and for love to win in your heart toward them.

Day 5

Related passage

"You are the salt of the earth.... You are the light of the world." Jesus doesn't say we should try to become these things; He says we already are. Salt slows decay; light dispels darkness and reveals the way. The sermon framed our cultural calling exactly here: we slow moral decay and we illuminate Jesus—not a politician—as the solution. That's worth sitting with, because the temptation in every election season is to point people toward a candidate as the answer to what ails us. But salt and light don't draw attention to themselves; they make something else visible. Our job is to make Jesus visible. This is where living it out gets practical. Showing up matters—searching the Scriptures, voting with biblical conviction, even prayerfully considering whether God might call you into public service at some level. None of that contradicts being salt and light; it's part of it. But the goal is never to crown an earthly savior. It's to keep pointing a watching world to the One who already reigns. Where has God placed you—your workplace, neighborhood, family? That's your assignment. Be salt there. Be light there.

For reflection

In the place God has put me, am I making Jesus visible or making myself heard?

Pray

Pray for courage to be salt and light right where God has placed you.

Day 6

Paul tells believers to submit to governing authorities, to pay what is owed, and to give respect and honor where they are due. He wrote this under Rome—hardly a friendly government. The sermon turned this into a clear challenge: pray for those in authority more than you critique or post about them. That includes leaders you agree with and leaders you can't stand. It's easy to pray for the ones we like; intercession for the others is where the Spirit grows us. Posting feels like action, but the pastor reminded us that Spirit-filled prayer does what no platform algorithm ever will. There's no rule about how much you scroll or share—this isn't a scorecard. It's a question of where your energy actually goes. If you tallied the minutes you spend critiquing leaders against the minutes you spend lifting them before God, what would the ratio reveal? Try flipping it this week. Before you comment, intercede. Pray for wisdom for those in office, for justice, for the church's freedom to keep being the church. Honor doesn't mean agreement; it means we trust God to work through the channels He's allowed, and we ask Him to.

For reflection

Who is a leader I find hard to honor, and what would it look like to pray for them this week?

Pray

Pray for a leader you struggle with by name, asking God to give them wisdom.

Day 7

Related passagePhilippians 3:17-4:1

As the week closes, let's gather it up. Paul ends his appeal not with a strategy but with affection: "my dear brothers and sisters... stay true to the Lord." Everything the sermon laid out hangs together here. We are citizens of heaven first, so our conduct flows from that home. We set our minds above so earthly politics finds its proper size. We carry the message of reconciliation as Christ's ambassadors. We love one another across our differences. We are salt and light, pointing to Jesus and not a candidate. And we pray for our leaders more than we post about them. The thread running through all of it is simple: remember who you are before you decide how you act. The church's job is not to elect a savior; it is to proclaim the One who already is. That reality is meant to reorder everything else—your time, your words, your relationships, your votes, your prayers. So as you step into another week, and into the seasons ahead, stay true to the Lord. Let your heavenly citizenship shape every earthly hour, and let a watching world see Jesus in you.

For reflection

Of this week's reflections, which one is Jesus inviting me to actually live out next?

Pray

Pray for the grace to remember whose you are before you decide how to act.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

We all feel the pull of a polarized moment, and this message asks a steadying question: who are we as followers of Jesus before we ever decide how to act in the public square? Let's start there together.

Discussion questions

1
Paul says our citizenship is in heaven. What does it look like for that identity to shape how people think and live before anything else does?
2
When Paul calls us ambassadors with a message of reconciliation, what does that suggest about the church's primary message to the world?
3
Jesus says people will know us by our love for one another. How can a group of believers stay marked by that love even when they disagree about politics?
4
Jesus calls His followers salt and light. What does it mean for us to slow moral decay and point to Jesus, rather than a politician, as the solution?
Related passage
5
The pastor challenged us to pray more than we post, interceding for leaders we agree with and leaders we can't stand. How might taking that seriously change the way we engage with leaders and with each other?
6
The pastor said the church's job is not to elect a savior but to proclaim the One who already is. How might keeping that front and center reorder the way we approach this season?

Pray together

Ask God to keep our heavenly citizenship and Christ-like love at the center of who we are, and to help us intercede for those in authority—both the leaders we trust and the ones we struggle with.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Week 2 · 6 messages

Where these passages are preached

Philippians 1 Philippians 3 John 18 2 Corinthians 5

Explore related topics

Christian Citizenship Church Unity Politics and Faith Prayer Over Posting Witness and Conduct

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