Loving God While Growing Together in His Grace & Forgiveness
Join a loving & welcoming community of believers where our faith and worship seek to please our Lord at all times.
1025 Loving Highway/Graham, Texas/76450
940-549-0486
About Us
Loving Highway Church of Christ was established in 1960 as a congregation and began meeting in the basement of the Graham Memorial Auditorium. By 1962 the congregation broke ground on its current location on Loving Highway running from Graham, Texas to Loving, Texas on historic Texas Highway 16. The original building was replaced due to foundation issues and the current building was opened in the fall of 2019. By the grace of God we continue to grow and we are now in the process of building additional classrooms, enlarging our fellowship hall, and an enlarging our auditorium.
What to Expect
We strive to live a Christian life using God's word as our ultimate guide.
We are a congregation of around 150 members and average 125 each Sunday for worship service. We offer classes for our young people, our youth, and our adults starting at 9:45 each Sunday morning. Our Sunday worship will include accapella songs and men leading our prayers. We will have a short thought and prary prior to observing our Lord’s Supper. Our minister, Mark Lisle, will offer a thought followed by an invitation to those who may seek to repent and be baptized or are in need of our prayers. We have a special 3rd Sunday luncheon to which all visitors are welcome to join anytime. We do not have a Sunday evening service and encourage our congregation to seek out means to spend time with their families or others in the congregation. On Wednesdays we offer a simple meal at 6:00 pm with a bible class led by our men or a video series starting at 7:00 pm. Our young children will attend a class of their own on Wednesday after the meal. On the 3rd Wednesday of the month we all gather in the auditorium, following the meal, to sing praises to our God and learn new songs from our new song books.
Core Beliefs
God
God, the Father, created the world and everything in it (Genesis 1 & 2; Revelation 4:11). He breathed life into man and in him we live and move and exist (Acts 17:24-28). The Father is slow to anger and abounding in grace and mercy (Numbers 14:18). He wishes that all people would repent of their sin and be saved (2 Peter 3:9). His mercy is balanced by his perfect justice, in which he disciplines us with love in his eternal attempt to win our hearts over to him (Isaiah 30:18; Hebrews 12:5-11). He showed you these things so you would know that the Lord is God and there is no other (Deuteronomy 4:35, NLT). We affirm our faith in the One, Eternal, Creator, Provider, Sustainer, and Lord of the world. Father, Son and Holy Spirit comprise our triune God. God is Sovereign and governs everything by His wisdom, purpose and goodness. As the apostle Paul told the people in Athens, By his power we live and move and exist (Acts 17:28, NCV). He created humans in His image, but that image has been spoiled by sin, which is why our world is messy and groaning. He is calling people out of the world for Himself, then sending His people back into the world to be His servants and witnesses to further His Kingdom, build up the body of Christ, and glorify His Name.
Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit was involved in the formation of the world as he moved over the waters from which the world was born (Genesis 1:2). Today, he is involved in the spiritual formation of every person when he baptizes us in the waters of baptism (Acts 19:1-6; 1 Corinthians 12:13). People who have become followers of Jesus are to live in holiness and obedience as they yield to the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit to dwell in those who are forgiven. The Holy Spirit transforms the believer in mind and lifestyle into the image of Jesus. He indwells each believer after baptism in accordance with the Holy Scripture and becomes their source of assurance, strength, wisdom, and gifting for the building up of the local church. (Acts 2:38; Ephesians 1:13; Galatians 5:22-23; Philippians 2:12; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3:18)
Bible
The Bible is the inspired Word of God. It is the final authority in our understanding of God and life. It is our supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. It is a compilation of books and letters written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. God's word is our guide in this present life, our understanding of our next life, and our sword of protection agains the evil one.(2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Ephesians 6:17) As the inspired word from God, the Bible is not meant to be bent or twisted to suit our beliefs, but rather must be diligently studied in its original context and meaning (Acts 17:10). We believe that the word of God is living and active, containing principles that transcend time and culture and an understandable message that can transform our world (2 Peter 1:19-20; Hebrews 4:12).
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the son of God and he is God (John 1:1). He created the world and everything in it. Just like the Father, his desire is to save all mankind from sin (John 3:16-17). For this reason he humbled himself by giving up his rightful place in heaven and came down to earth becoming fully human, just like us (Philippians 2:5-11). He did this to experience our pain and loss and to sympathize with our weaknesses and struggles. Yet he still retained the fullness of God and lived a sinless life in order to become the perfect sacrifice for the sins of many. Jesus died on the cross for us; for our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was buried in a tomb and rose from the dead on the third day, having overcome the forces of sin and death. He is the way, the truth, and the life and only through him can we find salvation and spiritual transformation (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).
The Church
And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God (1 Peter 2:5, NLT). The Lord has given each member of His spiritual body gifts and abilities meant to edify, or build up, His Kingdom (places, like our hearts, in which He reigns). Through followers of Christ, God continues the mission to reconcile lost people to Him and restore a broken world to its original design. Followers serve as living sacrifices to please and honor our Lord. Using our Spirit-given gifts, we work with the body of believers to build one another up in faith and spiritual maturity. Using many of those same gifts, we work outwardly to love and reach lost people and minister to a world that struggles under the curse of sin. We speak truth in love to a world that has lost connection with God. We gather regularly, particularly on Sunday, to refocus on our Lord, revive our spirits, and remember Christ in communion.
A Cappella Singing
The earliest Christian churches did not use instrumental music in their assemblies for worship. Most historians agree to this. Throughout the New Testament every mention of musical praise to God speaks of singing, never of playing. The only instrument on which worshipers were directed to make melody (psallo, to pluck, as on the strings of a harp) was the heart filled with grace and praise to the Lord. (18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.) Ephesians 5:18-20.
Salvation
Salvation is a free gift of God. The death of Christ on the cross is the only sufficient payment for our sins. We can never make up for our sin by living a good life or keeping perfectly religious commandments. Salvation is offered from God to everyone who puts their faith in Christ as Savior. The Bible teaches that this faith is expressed through confession, repentance and baptism. God forgives our sins and raises us to walk a new life empowered by the Holy Spirit. (Romans 1:16-17, 3:23-24, 5:1, 6:3-8, 23; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 3:16; Titus 3:5; Galatians 3:26-27; Acts 2:37-41; Matthew 28:19-20) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV). The mission of Jesus was to pay the price for our sin against God’s love and reconcile us to God, making us His adopted children. To receive that priceless gift, we are to respond with faith. Calling on the Lord through faith includes a belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. It includes repentance, a turning away from self-will, and submission to God’s will as we seek Him with all our hearts. And it includes baptism in the Name of Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2). With this, we are born anew, cleansed from sin, clothed with Christ, saved and added to the family of believers in order to live lives that continue the mission and ministry of Christ.
Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper is Christ’s memorial, proclamation, fellowship, and source of spiritual strength for His disciples. Every first day of the week Christians assemble around the bread and fruit of the vine to remember the body and blood of the Savior and proclaim His death until He comes. Scripture indicates that observance of the Lord’s Supper is mandatory because Jesus instituted it as a command not a suggestion. Notice the imperative statements used by Jesus in His instructions regarding the Lord’s Supper. He instructed His disciples to “Take, eat; this is my body” and “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant” (Matthew 26:26-27). Elsewhere He instructed His disciples to “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). As Jesus instituted this memorial He did so with a command, and therefore, established an expectation that His followers would observe it. Scripture indicates that observance of the Lord’s Supper is something to which we are expected to be devoted. Luke described the early church as being “devoted” to the breaking of bread (Acts 2:42). In other words, they viewed the Lord’s Supper as of primary importance. To them the Lord’s Supper mattered. It wasn’t something they did by happenstance or that they observed spontaneously. It was purposeful, it was meaningful, and it was prioritized. Scripture indicates that observance of the Lord’s Supper is so important that it mandates a self-examination prior to partaking of it. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.”
Let’s Talk
Have a question or idea? Send a quick note and we’ll be in touch soon.