Jesus gave his disciples a command before he ascended. Not a suggestion. Not a good idea to consider when resources permitted. A command.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." Matthew 28:19.

For two thousand years the church has wrestled with what it means to obey that command faithfully in every generation. The methods have changed. The tools have changed. The languages, the cultures, the communication channels — all of it has changed. But the command has not.

In 2026 more than 21 million Australians carry in their pocket a device that connects them to virtually every piece of information ever produced by humanity. They use it to search for answers to the biggest questions of their lives. They use it to find community. They use it to process grief, loneliness, doubt and hope.

And the question the church must answer in this generation is the same question it has answered in every generation: are we willing to go where people are?

Where Australians Are Searching

I want to share some numbers with you — not because data is the point, but because I think they help us see the mission field clearly.

Google processes more than 8.5 billion searches every day.¹ A significant portion of those searches are people looking for answers to the questions the gospel speaks directly to — meaning, purpose, loneliness, anxiety, grief, forgiveness, hope, and what happens when we die.

In Australia, more than 60% of people who are looking for a local service — including a local church — begin their search on Google.² They type "church near me" or "Christian community [suburb]" or "churches in [city]" and they look at what comes up. If your church doesn't appear in those results, those people never find you.

They are searching. They are open. And in many cases they are one Google search away from encountering the gospel.

This is not a marketing opportunity. It is a mission field.

The Reformation Parallel

I find it helpful to think about where we are now in light of where the church has been before.

In the fifteenth century Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. Within decades Martin Luther and the other Reformers had used it to distribute the Scriptures, the catechisms, and the theological arguments that reshaped the church across Europe. They didn't invent the printing press. They didn't control it. But they recognised it as a tool that God's providence had placed in their hands — and they used it faithfully.

The internet is this generation's printing press. It is arguably the most powerful communication tool in the history of humanity. And the question for the church today is the same question the Reformers faced: are we going to use this tool to advance the gospel, or are we going to leave it to others?

The people who are already using it most effectively to shape the beliefs and values of Australians are not churches. They are content creators, influencers, advertising platforms and algorithm-driven recommendation engines. The digital world is not spiritually neutral. It is actively forming people — and the church has largely been absent from that formation.

What It Means to "Go" in 2026

I want to be careful here because I think this is where the conversation about digital ministry often goes wrong.

A digital presence is not a replacement for the local church. It is not a substitute for gathered worship, the Lord's Supper, baptism, pastoral care, or the kind of embodied community that only happens when real people share real life together in a real place. The local church is irreplaceable — and nothing I say here should be heard as undermining that conviction.

But the Great Commission does not say "wait for people to find you." It says go.

Going in 2026 means showing up in the places where people are searching, scrolling, watching, reading, and listening. It means your pastor's sermon reaching someone in your suburb at 11pm on a Wednesday who typed "how can Jesus help me" into Google and found a clip from last Sunday's message. It means your church appearing at the top of search results when a young family moves to your area and starts looking for a community. It means clips from Sunday's sermons appearing in someone's social media feed, it means someone searching in Spotify for parenting advice and coming across a sermon from last year. Our churches must be present in the digital spaces where people are spending hours every day.

This is not compromise. It is faithfulness. It is the same instinct that drove Paul to the Areopagus — to go to where people were already gathering and to speak the gospel into that space.

Modern Digital Stewardship

Beyond the missional argument there is also a stewardship argument — and I think it's one that deserves to be taken seriously by church leaders and elder boards.

Google has set aside up to $10,000 USD every single month — for free — specifically for registered non-profits like your church to use for digital outreach. That's $120,000 USD per year in free advertising that most Australian churches are not using.

In addition to this, social media accounts are free to set up and use. You are already doing the hard work of creating a sermon, and you can easily turn this into online content, such as a video on Youtube, a podcast on Apple, and short form videos on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Youtube. There is a whole blog post on how to turn your sermon into this content, but ultimately, this is content you have stewardship over.

Jesus told a story about a master who gave his servants talents to invest while he was away. Two of the servants invested what they were given and produced a return. One buried his talent in the ground. When the master returned he did not congratulate the one who had buried his talent for being cautious. He was displeased.

The Google Ad Grant, your sermon, and being able to easily share it is a talent. It is a resource that has been placed in the hands of the church — and most Australian churches are burying it in the ground.

This is a stewardship issue. And I believe it deserves the same serious attention that church leaders give to their financial budgets, their staffing decisions, and their building maintenance.

Common Objections

Australian church leaders often have the same objections to digital ministry. I want to address them honestly.

What Faithful Digital Outreach Looks Like

I want to paint a picture of what it looks like when a church takes its digital presence seriously — not as a marketing exercise but as an extension of its mission.

It looks like a pastor who preaches on Sunday knowing that by Tuesday the most powerful moment from his sermon will be reaching people in his suburb who have never heard his name. It looks like a church that shows up on the first page of Google when someone in their community searches for hope, community or answers. It looks like a newcomer who finds your church online at midnight on a Thursday, watches a sermon, fills in a form, and receives a warm welcome within five minutes — beginning a journey that ends with them being baptised and embrassed by your community.

It looks like the Great Commission being obeyed faithfully in the tools and technologies of this generation.

A Challenge to Church Leaders

If you lead a church in Australia I want to ask you a direct question.

If Jesus commissioned you to reach every person in your suburb with the gospel what would you do with a tool that placed your church at the top of Google when someone in your suburb searched for hope, meaning, community or faith? And what would you do if that tool was free?

That tool exists. It's called the Google Ad Grant. And it's available to your church right now.

The Great Commission has not changed. The mission field has. And the church that takes its responsibility seriously in this generation will use every tool available — including the digital ones — to ensure that when people in its community are searching for answers, the gospel is what they find.

Where to Start

If this post has stirred something in you — a conviction that your church's digital presence deserves more attention than it's currently getting — here is where I'd suggest starting:

• Read my guide on the Google Ad Grant and find out whether your church qualifies: What Is the Google Ad Grant and How Does It Help Churches? →
• Check whether your church website is actually visible on Google: Why Your Church Website Is Invisible on Google →
• Book a free 30-minute strategy call and let's talk about what faithful digital outreach could look like for your specific church and community.

Book Your Free Strategy Call →

Written by Daniel Jackson - The founder of DEO Ministry and an elder at Soma Blue Mountains. He holds a MDiv from Christ College Sydney and a MATh from SMBC. He has helped scale businesses to over $1,000,000 in annual turnover and is passionate about helping Australian churches use digital tools to reach more people with the gospel.