Habits and Hustle

Episode 520: The Best of Habits & Hustle: Touré Roberts (ONE Church LA Founder)

January 16, 2026

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  • Touré Roberts' transition to ministry was an organic overflow resulting from a personal spiritual awakening at age 26, triggered by marital instability, rather than a direct path through his famous in-laws. 
  • His divine calling, revealed through dreams, centers on loving every human being as much as his firstborn child and using his gift of communication to unlock the potential ('wings') in others. 
  • True balance is defined not as dividing oneself into percentages, but as achieving wholeness and then giving one's best self to endeavors sequentially, as one can do all things well, just not simultaneously. 
  • The Hebrew word for Sabbath means 'to cease' or 'to stop,' which is difficult for people in a noisy world who use distraction to avoid looking inward at their flaws. 
  • Touré Roberts learned the hard way that he was too vulnerable and needed time alone after his divorce, as he was naive about romantic intentions from others, including his fitness trainer. 
  • The power of 'No' is crucial for high performance because 'Yes' is expensive, and saying no qualifies relationships by revealing who respects personal boundaries. 

Segments

Touré Roberts’ Background
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(00:00:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Touré Roberts’ professional background was in business and technology, building data centers before founding his own successful company.
  • Summary: Before entering the faith world, Touré Roberts was a successful entrepreneur in the technology sector, building data centers for Fortune 100 and 500 companies. His initial success in business led to him becoming externally successful but internally a mess, described as puffed up and proud. This preceded his spiritual awakening at age 26.
Catalyst for Spiritual Awakening
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(00:02:40)
  • Key Takeaway: The catalyst for Roberts’ spiritual awakening was the near collapse of his marriage, prompting him to seek spiritual stability.
  • Summary: Roberts’ marriage was falling apart, leading to separation, which served as the catalyst for him to seek closeness with God. He felt compelled to get himself together spiritually because his family structure, his stability, was being disrupted. He initially sought guidance from his mother’s church but found its perspectives too small.
Audience Demographics and Style
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(00:03:43)
  • Key Takeaway: His audience primarily consists of young professionals, aged 25-49, 70% female, who seek authenticity over traditional expressions of faith.
  • Summary: The audience for Touré Roberts’ ministry is diverse, leaning towards young professionals, many in entertainment, who desire something real. They are generally people who might not subscribe to traditional faith structures but are open to spirituality if it is large enough to fit their lives. Roberts notes his audience includes many ‘culture shakers’ and that he is comfortable using casual language like swearing.
The Pivotal Dream and Calling
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(00:06:26)
  • Key Takeaway: A series of dreams clarified his divine calling: to love people like his firstborn child and communicate in a way that unlocks their inherent gifts.
  • Summary: A divine calling was confirmed through a series of dreams, one involving ascending, gaining total knowledge, and then interacting with his daughter, Lauren. The dream’s interpretation mandated loving every human being with the same intensity he felt for his firstborn child. His gift is not personal flight, but compelling others to use their own wings (gifts) so that as they are lifted, he is lifted.
Early Ministry Formation
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(00:18:40)
  • Key Takeaway: Driven by a business mindset for impact, Roberts started his ministry by renting a hotel room and investing his own money, initially naming it Saints United Ministries.
  • Summary: Applying his business background, Roberts sought the most impactful structure for his gift, leading him to rent a hotel room in Culver City to start a movement. He invested his personal funds, creating flyers despite lacking graphic design skills, and attracted 80 people to the first meeting. His goal for Saints United Ministries was to foster unity across ethnic and socioeconomic lines, which he felt was lacking in traditional church settings.
Growth Through Relocation
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(00:22:13)
  • Key Takeaway: Growth exploded only after Roberts followed an intuitive feeling to move his small gathering from Culver City to North Hollywood, despite the existing congregation living south of the freeway.
  • Summary: After two years of slow growth in Culver City, Roberts felt divinely inspired to move the ministry to North Hollywood, which was inconvenient for his current attendees. Upon relocating, the ministry exploded, demonstrating the importance of location in alignment with purpose. This growth occurred after he stopped relying on his marketing background and instead let people walk in off the street.
Lessons from Industry Connections
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(00:25:12)
  • Key Takeaway: Early attendees like music producer Brian Kennedy received advice to reject oppressive industry deals, leading to significant career success for them.
  • Summary: Brian Kennedy, an early attendee dressed casually, brought in a group of talented young people from the entertainment industry. Roberts advised Kennedy to walk away from an oppressive music deal, which he did, leading to his career success producing hits for artists like Rihanna. This influx of talented but oppressed individuals shaped Roberts’ subsequent ministry focus on identity, value, and affirmation for Young Hollywood.
The Value of Loss and Failure
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(00:34:28)
  • Key Takeaway: Experiencing significant losses—a failed acquisition, a TV show not getting picked up, and a struggling church takeover—taught Roberts the crucial difference between losing and being a loser.
  • Summary: Roberts endured a period of intense loss, including a major financial deal falling apart and his highly anticipated TV show pilot being rejected by the network. He realized that while he knew how to win, he did not know how to lose, and that sometimes losing is necessary for development. He advocates for performing an ‘autopsy on failure’ to find the treasure and insight needed for future success, emphasizing that scaling requires stretching and risk.
Defining Wholeness Over Balance
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(00:48:37)
  • Key Takeaway: Balance is not about dividing oneself into percentages across responsibilities, but about achieving wholeness and then sequentially giving one’s best self to tasks.
  • Summary: Roberts rejects the traditional view of work-life balance as an impossible division of percentages among responsibilities like family, business, and church. He defines balance as a journey toward becoming one’s whole self, which allows one to do all things well, provided they are done in sequence. Giving a ‘crappy version’ of oneself to scheduled time slots proves that time management alone does not equate to balance.
Signs of Imbalance and Stopping
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(00:50:48)
  • Key Takeaway: Key indicators of imbalance include stagnation, weariness (a gravitational pull toward disaster), and the presence of jealousy or envy.
  • Summary: Stagnation is a sign of imbalance because a balanced, flowing state should always yield creativity and innovation. Weariness is distinct from tiredness, described as the gradual pull toward disaster, signaling a need to correct course. Jealousy and envy indicate imbalance because a truly balanced person feels connected to the success of others rather than feeling competitive.
Touré’s Jewish Journal Cover
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(00:54:01)
  • Key Takeaway: A cover feature in the Jewish Journal provided Touré Roberts with significant traction, surpassing other major publications.
  • Summary: Touré Roberts was featured on the cover of the Jewish Journal years ago due to his board membership with the American Friends of Maguinda Vidadon, an ambulance service in Israel. He noted that this specific feature garnered more traction than features in Forbes. This highlights the unexpected impact of niche or community-focused publications.
The Meaning of Sabbath
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(00:55:09)
  • Key Takeaway: The Hebrew word for Sabbath literally means ’to cease’ or ’to stop,’ not just to rest.
  • Summary: The concept of Sabbath is defined as a literal cessation of activity, which people avoid because stopping noise forces them to confront what is wrong internally. This avoidance of stillness is often fueled by a desire for short-term gratification through distraction.
Post-Divorce Dating Naivete
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(00:56:04)
  • Key Takeaway: Being married for 17 years shielded Touré Roberts from modern dating realities, leading to naivete after his divorce.
  • Summary: After a 17-year marriage, Touré Roberts felt compelled to ‘chill’ and avoid dating, but quickly entered a relationship with his female trainer who confronted him about their dynamic. He admitted being shielded from the reality of dating, even being unaware of platforms like Tinder, and learned that women could be just as forward or complex in casual intentions.
Meeting Sarah Jakes Roberts
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(01:04:09)
  • Key Takeaway: Touré Roberts met his future wife, Sarah Jakes Roberts, after a period of intentional solitude focused on finding a potential spouse.
  • Summary: Following short-lived dating attempts, Touré decided not to date anyone unless they had the potential to be his wife, which led to a meeting with Sarah Jakes Roberts, arranged by a friend connected to TD Jakes. He was initially confused by her casual appearance, as his expectation, based on her father, was different. They shared a phenomenal conversation about purpose, and he felt an immediate familiarity upon touching her hand during a closing prayer at a conference.
Developing Sermon Content
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(01:13:03)
  • Key Takeaway: Effective weekly sermon content is generated through continuous personal spiritual growth and responding dynamically to the audience’s energy.
  • Summary: Touré Roberts cannot write his sermons word-for-word because he must respond to the energy and needs of the people in the room, often using multiple analogies until the message resonates. This requires daily spiritual disciplines and a genuine love for the audience to feel what they are going through. At least 50% of his message is extemporaneous, adapting based on the congregation’s real-time response.
Church Funding Model
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(01:15:34)
  • Key Takeaway: ONE Church LA operates as a donation-based non-profit without mandatory membership fees, relying on digital giving and the psychological impact of in-person giving.
  • Summary: The church does not charge membership fees, relying entirely on donations, which can be made via text or online profile setup for tax statements. While digital giving is efficient, in-person giving (historically via a passing bucket) often generates more due to peer pressure and the psychological effect of visible giving. Touré personally tithes 10% of his income to the church.
Church Branding Evolution
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(01:33:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Touré Roberts regrets rebranding his successful ONE Church LA brand to include ‘The Potter’s House’ affiliation to unify with his wife’s church.
  • Summary: When Touré took over his father-in-law’s church in Denver due to a leadership failure, he temporarily rebranded his LA church as ‘The Potter’s House at 1 LA’ to unify the entities. He realized in hindsight that the original ONE Church LA brand had significant equity and unique strength, leading him to reclaim the original name after closing the physical Denver location during the pandemic.
The Importance of Saying No
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(01:38:10)
  • Key Takeaway: High performers should adopt a 90/10 rule of saying ‘No’ to opportunities to preserve availability for truly important commitments.
  • Summary: Saying ‘Yes’ provides instant gratification but is ultimately expensive because it consumes limited resources like time and energy. By saying no to nine out of ten requests, one ensures availability for the few opportunities that truly matter and align with long-term goals. Furthermore, using ‘No’ as a boundary qualifies relationships, revealing those who only value you when you are compliant.