Who Is Your One? Pursue, Pray, Rejoice

Sep 06, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Heaven’s Roar for the Runaway

A single repentant heart sets off cosmic celebration. Jesus paints heaven not as a passive spectator but a jubilant crowd erupting when one soul turns home. This joy isn’t reserved for mass revivals but ignites over quiet conversions—the addict choosing sobriety, the skeptic whispering prayer. Eternal parties don’t wait for crowd sizes. They pulse with each prodigal’s homecoming. What if our small obedience—a conversation, a prayer—unleashes this divine fiesta? [36:15]

“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
(Luke 15:7, ESV)

Reflection: When you first turned to Christ, heaven threw a party for you. How does knowing angels still cheer for “ones” like your loved one fuel your persistence?

Day 2: Eating With the “Bad” Crowd

Religious pride builds tables to exclude; Jesus builds tables to reclaim. The Pharisees fumed as Christ feasted with thieves and adulterers, blind to their own need. True discipleship begins not with moral superiority but shared brokenness—sitting in the mess, not scrubbing it away. To reach the lost, we must first admit we’re still being found. [38:45]

“And Jesus answered them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.’”
(Luke 5:31–32, ESV)

Reflection: Who do you secretly label “too far gone” to deserve your time? How might sitting with them—without agendas—soften both your hearts?

Day 3: Losing Keys, Finding Eternity

Misplaced car keys hijack our day; misplaced souls should wreck our complacency. Jesus compares divine pursuit to a woman turning her house upside down for one coin. Eternal urgency looks like rearranged schedules, awkward invitations, and prayers that outlast rejection. Comfort dies when we grasp that hell isn’t metaphorical for our neighbor. [45:20]

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?”
(Luke 15:8, ESV)

Reflection: What practical inconvenience—a missed show, an extra errand—have you avoided to keep chasing your “one”? What’s one step you’ll take this week?

Day 4: Names, Not Numbers

Asheville has no face; your one has a heartbeat. Missions stagnate as theories until we attach a name—the barista who remembers your order, the cousin who scoffs at grace. Eternal value isn’t measured in budgets or buildings but in the specific laugh lines and late-night cries of the person God has placed in your orbit. [59:32]

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
(2 Peter 3:9, ESV)

Reflection: Write your “one’s” name below this question. How does seeing it in ink shift your prayers from vague hopes to bold appeals?

Day 5: Stubborn Grace for the “Not Yet”

Salvation’s timeline infuriates our hurry, but heaven’s clock ticks through decades. The shepherd didn’t quit when the sheep wandered; the widow didn’t declare the coin “too lost.” Your tears and texts matter even if harvests take years. God’s persistence wears down walls—yours to keep loving, theirs to keep resisting. [01:03:25]

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
(Galatians 6:9, ESV)

Reflection: What past disappointment with your “one” tempts you to silence? How can you channel that ache into one defiant act of hope today?

Sermon Summary

The question “Who’s your one?” presses past the person who gives comfort, counsel, and support, and asks for the name of somebody far from God whose eternity has become a real burden. The call to have one is not a call to carry a vague concern for Asheville, a workplace, or a neighborhood. The call is to know a name, see a face, hear a story, and love one person without an ulterior motive.

Luke 15 begins with tax collectors and sinners drawing near to Jesus while the Pharisees complain that He receives sinners and eats with them. Jesus answers their pride with the stories of a lost sheep and a lost coin. The Pharisees assume that Jesus should be spending His time with people like them, not with people who look far from God. Jesus exposes the problem underneath that complaint: people who think they have it figured out do not see how deeply they need Him.

The gospel requires sinners to see themselves as needy before they can be made whole. Jesus is not merely nice to have, another box to check, or something that makes life a little richer. Jesus is necessary. The need for Jesus does not diminish after salvation, because believers need Him today as much as they did on the day He saved them.

The mission also changes priorities. The shepherd leaves comfort to search for one sheep, and the woman lights a lamp and sweeps the house for one coin. Something lost changes everything. A misplaced key can throw off an entire day, but a lost child stops the whole store. A person far from God carries infinitely more weight than a sheep, a coin, or any temporary thing.

The name changes the mission because the lost becomes personal. A one has hurts, questions, a story, and an eternity. The call to reach people requires more than an invitation when nothing else is happening. The call requires rearranged schedules, cups of coffee, ball games, meals, prayer, patience, and a stubborn refusal to give up.

The pursuit of one also changes the person doing the pursuing. The burden can change worship, deepen prayer, reshape hospitality, and make comfort issues matter less. Heaven rejoices when one sinner repents because God is after one more. The response is simple: write down one name, pray for that person, make room for that person, and remember that person is already God’s one.

Key Takeaways

1. Jesus is necessary, not merely nice. Jesus confronts the pride that treats Him as an accessory to an otherwise put-together life. The gospel begins where self-sufficiency breaks down and sin is honestly named. The need for Christ remains constant because salvation never turns dependence on Him into a past tense reality. [42:30]
2. One name makes mission personal. The mission becomes more than a theory when the lost has a face, a story, and an eternity. A named person interrupts comfortable routines because love cannot remain abstract. The question is not whether a community needs the gospel, but who sits across the table and needs to know Jesus yet. [57:23]
3. Love rearranges life for the lost. The shepherd and the woman both move from comfort into search-and-find mode when something valuable is missing. A one requires more than occasional concern or a convenient invitation. The pursuit of a person far from God calls for prayer, presence, patience, and meaningful relationship. [48:29]
4. Heaven celebrates one repentant sinner. Heaven’s joy reveals the eternal value of every person who comes to Christ. The possibility of rejection should also produce real sorrow, because eternity is not a flippant matter. God’s pursuit gives hope even when a one has not yet responded.

## [59:32]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[27:57] - Who’s Your One?
[31:18] - Love Without an Ulterior Motive
[33:43] - Jesus Receives Sinners
[38:07] - Pride Keeps Jesus at a Distance
[42:30] - Is Jesus Nice or Necessary?
[44:26] - The Mission Changes Priorities
[49:58] - More Than Sheep and Coins
[51:34] - A Name Changes the Mission
[54:45] - Pursuit Changes the Pursuer
[57:23] - The Lost Has a Face
[59:04] - Eternal Value and Heaven’s Joy
[62:02] - Write Down One Name
[63:25] - Respond for Your One

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Luke 15:1–10

Verses 1–2: “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’” [34:15]

Verses 3–7: “So he told them this parable: ‘What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.’” [35:31]

Verses 8–10: “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” [36:32]

Luke 5:31–32

“And Jesus answered them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.’” [39:32]

Romans 10:13

“For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” [43:37]

Observation questions

In Luke 15:1–2, who was drawing near to Jesus, and what specifically upset the Pharisees and scribes about Jesus’ actions?
What actions do the shepherd and the woman take after realizing that one sheep or one coin is missing? What words show that they do not stop searching quickly? [44:51]
What happens after the lost sheep and lost coin are found, both on earth in the stories and in heaven according to Jesus?
What comparison does Jesus make in Luke 5:31–32 between sick people needing a doctor and sinners needing repentance? [39:32]

Interpretation questions

Why might the Pharisees have been bothered not only that Jesus spoke to sinners, but that He received them and ate with them? What does their complaint reveal about how they viewed themselves? [38:45]
Jesus says that heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents. How does this explain the meaning of the lost sheep and lost coin stories? [50:34]
In what way can a person treat Jesus as “nice” but not necessary? Why does that attitude keep someone from honestly seeing his or her need for grace? [42:18]
The shepherd and the woman both change what they are doing in order to search. What does that show about the difference between casually caring about lost people and truly valuing them? [48:29]

Application questions

Is there a person in your life whose relationship with God has become a real burden on your heart—not just a group of people or a general concern, but a name and a face? Who comes to mind? [01:02:28]
What might it look like for you to love that person without an ulterior motive? Are there ways you have been tempted to make friendship conditional on whether they agree with you, change quickly, or respond positively? [31:41]
Jesus is necessary, not merely helpful or convenient. Where are you most tempted to live as though you can handle life without daily dependence on Him? [43:59]
What comfort, routine, or part of your schedule might need to change so that you can make room for your one? Could that look like coffee, a meal, a game, helping with a need, or simply being more present? [54:19]
How can you pray more specifically for your one this week? What might you ask God to do in that person’s heart, and what opportunity might you ask Him to give you? [01:02:11]
Everyone who walks into the church may be somebody’s one. How could you personally help someone feel welcomed, noticed, and included rather than overlooked? [55:54]
If your one has rejected past invitations or conversations about Jesus, how can you continue to love and pray for them with patience while leaving room for God to work? [01:00:17]

Sermon Clips

29s

#JesusIsNecessary

“Is he nice to have and something that makes our life better or richer or more meaningful or is he necessary? Is he is he the parachute or the plane? If he's the parachute, you've got to have it. You get, you can't jump out of the plane without a parachute. Nothing's gonna catch you. Jesus isn't just something nice, he is necessary. We have to have him.”

41s

#JesusNiceOrNecessary

“But at at their heart, Jesus is addressing a deeper issue. The issue that he's addressing is that he knows they don't really need Jesus. They don't need him. They see Jesus as simply another tool to add, as a different box to check. And He was nice so long as they agreed with Him. And He was nice, but He wasn't necessary. So, this morning I want to ask each of us a question. Is Jesus nice or necessary?”

36s

#OwnYourBrokenness

“See, this story of the gospel, this message of Jesus is really this. It's if you think you've got it all figured out, then you don't need Jesus. It is only when we come face to face with our own brokenness, our own sinfulness, our own realization that we don't actually have it figured out, That we can be found with the sinners and made whole.”

38s

#BringOneNear

“Because our goal is that people who are far from God will be brought near to God and then changed by God. And we believe that will give God glory by seeing people changed and eternity impacted and ultimately making heaven crowded. See, every person matters to God. And because every person matters to God, every follower of Jesus should have at least one person they know who is far from God, that they are willing to love, pray for, and rearrange their life to reach.”

55s

#WhoIsYourOne

“Who is the one person in your life that you are burdened about where they're gonna spend eternity? Who's the one person that you know, that you love, that you care about, who is far from God, that you desire to be brought near to God so that they can be changed by God. And what we have got to begin to do as we work through these next two Sundays is learning what it looks like to have one. Not necessarily six or eight or even two or three, but to have at least one person who we know who is we are seeking. We are rearranging our schedule. We are doing everything in our power to pray consistently and share consistently and love them to the place where we get to present and hopefully one day see them come to saving faith in Jesus. You know,”

50s

#HeavenRejoices

“And note the word joy and celebration. Could you imagine the celebration in heaven when one person gets saved? Like, oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. There it is again. And the biggest stadium you've ever been in your life would pale in comparison to millions of Christians who have been saved from the beginning of time until today. And in one accord, there's this roar. Like, I got chills right now. Could you imagine that? This celebration that's happening in heaven when one person gets saved, it happened for you. By the grace of God, when we begin to see, pray, and bring our ones, it'll happen for them too. But that's the celebration that happens in heaven.”

33s

#OneChangesUs

“Because as we think of this step, this step is about evangelism. Don't misunderstand, but it's not only about evangelism. It's also about a a church word, which is discipleship. It's how we grow as we follow after Jesus. Because as we as we follow after Jesus and as we begin to spend time with our one person who we know, we desperately are praying, we're hoping they come to meet Jesus, God does something inside of us. He doesn't only change that person, he changes us.”

42s

#NameChangesMission

“Each person has a name because people matter. And each one of us should have a one. who is your one? Because when you're, when you have a one and your one has a name, the name changes the mission. The name changes the mission. Because now, instead of imagine a lost key from my story or a lost sheep or a coin from Jesus' story, What if it was your kid in a store?”

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West Asheville Baptist Church This sermon · AI assistant

Is Jesus merely nice or truly necessary?

Why does heaven rejoice over one repentant sinner?

How should mission change my daily priorities?