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

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

Daniel Goulding · Apr 20, 2026

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

Sign in to ask Rewind about this sermon

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.

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.

Sign in to save this message.

Topics

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

Powered by Rewind · make your church's Rewind →