Broadcasting the Gospel

What leaders are saying

Doug Ellingsworth on Broadcasting the Gospel

One → Many Evangelism

One faithful effort can carry many seeds

One-to-one evangelism will always matter. A conversation can change a life. But it should not be the only way the message travels. Broadcasting widens the top of the evangelism funnel: the same sermon, testimony, invitation, or answer can build awareness, extend the reach of the message, and open more doors for personal ministry.

What you will get from the Broadcasting Book

Six massive actions anyone can take

You have all you need to Broadcast the Gospel. None of it requires a budget, a team, or equipment you do not already have.

• The parable is a strategy

  The sower threw seed onto the path, the rocks, and the thorns, and only a quarter of it landed well. He was not careless. He was prolific. That is the method, and it changes what faithfulness looks like.

• Your voice is necessary

  The most powerful broadcasting tools in history are free and in your pocket, and most of us have handed them to whoever in the church seems to understand them. Your voice is the one that should not be missing.

• You already have the content

  Document, don’t create. You have an abundance of material. The work is to capture it and share it. You don’t have to invent it.

• Track your faithfulness

  God gives the increase, but we reap what we sow. Track how much seed you put in the ground. Give God something to multiply.

• Pick one platform and set it up properly

  Websites, podcasting, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Google listings. The tools to reach those who have never been to your church.

• Maximize casting, not stress

  A weekly workflow written three ways: if it is just you, if you have one willing volunteer, if you have a small team. Plus what to expect, so week two does not talk you out of it.

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  Sep 30, 2026 · 30 min

  #3. Observe Not the Wind. Sow Anyways.

  The reasons we give for not recording yet are usually predictions, such as "my videos won't be good enough" or "nobody will watch." Ecclesiastes 11 speaks to that kind of prediction directly: the farmer who watches the wind never sows, and verse 6 says we can't know which seed will prosper, "either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good." In this episode I make the case for measuring success by how much we plant, because God gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6). So a hundred videos with twenty views each are a hundred seeds sown, and God decides which of them reaches the person who needed it. I also take on two fears that keep us waiting. The first is looking amateur. In a 2016 study of 390 science-communication videos from 39 YouTube channels, Dustin Welbourne and Will Grant found that user-generated videos were significantly more popular than professionally produced ones, and that videos with a consistent communicator were more popular. The second fear is what other Christians, even respected pastors, will think of us, and Proverbs 29:25 says, "The fear of man bringeth a snare." Your first recordings count as practice and as seed at the same time. The step for this week is to record one imperfect message of hope and post it where people in your city already gather online, then leave the view count alone. Chapter 10 of Broadcasting the Gospel, "Observe Not the Wind," goes further into the hesitations that keep us from starting. Scripture in this episode (KJV): Ecclesiastes 11:1; Ecclesiastes 11:4; Ecclesiastes 11:6; Mark 4:26–29; Matthew 13:3–9; Luke 8:11; Proverbs 3:5–6; 1 Corinthians 3:6–8; Isaiah 55:10–11; 2 Corinthians 9:6; Galatians 6:9; Psalm 126:5–6; 1 Corinthians 1:26–29; 2 Timothy 1:7; Matthew 25:24–27; Proverbs 29:25; Galatians 1:10; John 12:42–43; Proverbs 22:13 Research mentioned: Welbourne and Grant, "Science communication on YouTube: Factors that affect channel and video popularity," Public Understanding of Science (2016): https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662515572068 Stackla consumer content report (2019): https://www.nosto.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Stackla-Consumer-Marketer-Data-Report-2019_FINAL.pdf Think with Google, Why We Watch 2.0 (2024): https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/_qs/documents/18431/IT_Why_We_Watch_2.0_-_2024_Digital_Report.pdf Nielsen global trust in advertising (2012), summarized by Marketing Charts: https://www.marketingcharts.com/television-21766 Broadcasting the Gospel, the book: https://unmuted.is The UNmuted community: https://community.unmuted.is

  Listen: #3. Observe Not the Wind. Sow Anyways.
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  Sep 27, 2026 · 26 min

  #2. Forfeiting the Town Square

  This episode opens at 3 a.m., when someone lying awake with anxiety or a marriage in trouble picks up a phone before calling anyone. A KFF poll taken in July 2025 found that 55% of U.S. adults use social media to find health information and advice at least occasionally, and 58% had seen mental health information or advice there in the previous 30 days. The places people once went for counsel and debate, from the town square to the counselor's office, have largely moved online. I walk through where people now look for help with their health, relationships, money, and spiritual questions. Then I go back to Acts, where Paul reasoned in the marketplace every day and stood up on Mars' Hill to speak to the people of Athens. Most church social media is written for people who already attend, which makes sense given who follows a church page. It also gives the person awake at 3 a.m. little reason to ask about the hope Peter says we should be ready to explain. A personal invitation still carries weight: in a 2016 survey of 2,000 unchurched Americans by the Billy Graham Center and Lifeway Research, 51% said an invitation from a friend or neighbor would be effective in getting them to visit a church. So the call in this episode goes to every Christian, preachers included. Keep inviting people, and also publish testimonies and clear answers where people in your town already search, so someone with a hard question in the middle of the night can find a faithful answer. This week, post one testimony or one answer to a question your city is asking. Scripture in this episode (KJV): Acts 17:17; Acts 17:22–23; 1 Peter 3:15; Matthew 5:14–16; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; Psalm 107:2; Revelation 12:11; Acts 8:4; 1 Corinthians 3:6–8; Acts 2:37–38 Research mentioned: KFF Health Information and Trust Tracking Poll (July 2025): https://www.kff.org/public-opinion/kff-health-information-and-trust-tracking-poll-health-information-and-advice-on-social-media/ Billy Graham Center and Lifeway Research, study of unchurched Americans (2016 survey): https://research.lifeway.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/BGCE-Unchurched-Study-Final-Report-1_5_17.pdf Pew Research Center, internet use and smartphone ownership (2026): https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/01/08/internet-use-smartphone-ownership-digital-divides-in-u-s/ Pew Research Center, mobile fact sheet: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/ Pew Research Center, teens, social media and AI chatbots (2025): https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/12/09/teens-social-media-and-ai-chatbots-2025/ Pew Research Center, teens, social media and mental health (2025): https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/04/22/teens-social-media-and-mental-health/ DataReportal, Digital 2025 Global Overview Report: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2025-global-overview-report LifeStance Health and Researchscape survey (2025): https://investor.lifestance.com/node/9901/pdf TIAA Institute and MIT AgeLab, the future of advice (2025): https://www.tiaa.org/content/dam/tiaa/institute/pdf/insights-report/2025-03/tiaa-institute-mit-future-of-advice-kolluri-march-2025.pdf Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, how Americans use social media for financial advice (2024): https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/FRBP/Assets/Consumer-Finance/Reports/how-americans-use-social-media-for-financial-advice.pdf Altarum study of where young adults look for relationship advice (2025): https://doi.org/10.1080/15546128.2025.2459381 UCLA Center for Scholars and Storytellers, young people, faith, and online content (2026): https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/gen-alpha-z-trust-parents-faith-leaders-social-media-digital-content-religion-spiritual-matters Common Sense Media, Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs (2025): https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/talk-trust-and-trade-offs_2025_web.pdf Broadcasting the Gospel, the book: https://unmuted.is The UNmuted community: https://community.unmuted.is

  Listen: #2. Forfeiting the Town Square
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  Sep 27, 2026 · 31 min

  #1. Your Voice is Needed!

  In Acts, Paul went wherever a city already gathered. He reasoned in the Athens marketplace every day and taught for two years in the school of Tyrannus, and Luke records that all who lived in the Roman province of Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus. In this first episode of Broadcasting the Gospel, I set that pattern next to how most churches work today. Most of our budgets and calendars center on what happens inside the building, and most of our outreach invites people to come inside to hear the gospel. The church is necessary, and those invitations are good work. Jesus described the kingdom of heaven as treasure hid in a field, and someone had to put that treasure there. Today the field includes the places where people in your town already spend their time online. Every Christian has influence with somebody, and this episode asks you to use yours by publishing testimonies and messages of hope where your neighbors already look, so they come across the gospel there and some of them find their way to your church. Scripture in this episode (KJV): Acts 16:13; Acts 17:17; Acts 17:22–23; Acts 19:9–10; Matthew 16:18; Luke 19:10; Matthew 13:44; Matthew 9:37–38; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; Matthew 5:14–16; 1 Corinthians 3:6–8; Ecclesiastes 11:4 Broadcasting the Gospel, the book: https://unmuted.is The UNmuted community: https://community.unmuted.is

  Listen: #1. Your Voice is Needed!

• Social media

  Social profile setup checklists for churches

  Prepare your logo, bios, links and visitor information. Complete the social profiles your church uses with 14 checklists and a free printable PDF bundle.

  Sep 26, 2026 · 14 checklists

• Google Business Profile

  Set up your church's Google Business Profile in an afternoon

  Set up your church's Google Business Profile with categories, hours, photos, and contact details so local visitors can find accurate information.

  Aug 25, 2026 · 4 min read

• Podcasting

  Your first church podcast: the minimum that works

  Start a church podcast with a phone and a hosting account. A practical guide to naming your show, recording conversations, and publishing each week.

  Aug 20, 2026 · 4 min read