Living Stones Church, Red Deer, Alberta

Living Stones Church

Passion for God, Compassion for People. Life happens. If you missed a sermon, want another listen or want to forward your favourite message to a friend, you can do it right here, right now! We trust our messages will encourage and inspire you, don’t take our word for it; check it out yourself!

  1. Aug 31

    August 30, 2026 - How to Thrive in Dealing With Challenging People - Pastor Paul Vallee

    Cartoonist Charles Schulz was known to millions through his lovable loser, Charlie Brown. What many people don’t realize is that Schulz was a Christian, and through his cartoons, he drove home many Biblical insights. In one cartoon script, Charlie Brown and Lucy are talking. Lucy’s back is turned, her arms are folded, and she has a look of disgust on her face. Charlie is pleading, as usual, for her to be tolerant and understanding. With outstretched arms, he says: Lucy, you must be loving. This world really needs love. You have to let yourself love to make this world a better place in which to live! Lucy whirls around and screams (as Charlie does his famous backflip): Look, blockhead-the world I love. It’s people I can’t stand!” It is one thing to say we love people as a general principle, but the challenge is to love challenging and often difficult people. People who hurt you. God gives us opportunities to develop a loving heart by putting us in families. One of the families God puts us into is the local church where we interact with other people. Yet many struggle to relate to others. Obviously, this comes from experiencing personal pain and disappointments. As a result of past hurts, we may try to avoid and withdraw from those God designed for us to relate to. We can never become what we need to become on our own. We desperately need each other.  If there is one critical element in learning to really enjoy life, it is the ability to get along with people. Yet, we discover sooner or later that there are no problems quite like people problems. You can have a job that demands long hours and great physical effort, but neither the hours nor the energy demands drain you as difficult people can. You can have financial difficulties, physical pain, a tight schedule, and miles of driving, but these things are not the cause of our major battles.  Learning to live successfully with others is one of the most important keys to life. God knows that if we are going to impact others with the good news about Jesus, live healthier lives, and enjoy life, we need to learn how to live in harmony with others.   In 1 Peter, we gain insight into how to deal with people, even those hostile to our faith. Peter gives us some incredible insight into how to achieve harmony, restore broken relationships, and just thrive even when being attacked. How can we handle verbal attacks without letting them devastate our souls?

    August 30, 2026 - How to Thrive in Dealing With Challenging People - Pastor Paul Vallee
  2. Aug 24

    August 23, 2026 - How to Overcome Obstacles Towards a Dynamic Marriage - Pastor Paul Vallee

    We are living in a day in which people don’t know how to work out their differences. This is especially true in their most meaningful relationships. In an age where relationships are struggling, the most challenging but rewarding relationship is marriage. It is the foundation of our society. It’s where a new generation is born and developed. It is where values are taught, both positive and negative. It is one of God’s greatest tools to shape our lives, and it becomes the most profound example of what it means to be in a relationship with God. It is interesting that in both the Old and New Testaments, we see marriage as a key metaphor for understanding our covenant relationship with God and our oneness with him. Marriage is the place where we learn to pour out our lives for another, and when children come along, they increase our capacity for giving. Yet, it is also the relationship where we are most exposed and vulnerable. It is the place of greatest joy, but also of greatest pain. So, how can we work to make this critical relationship, and other close relationships, not only work but thrive? How can we build healthy, loving relationships where challenging obstacles can seem to hinder that goal? The best place to turn for instructions is the operator’s manual. God, the originator of marriage, gives us amazing insights into how to grow our marriage or other meaningful social relationships. Here, we'll discover what makes people attractive, and the answers may surprise you.

    August 23, 2026 - How to Overcome Obstacles Towards a Dynamic Marriage - Pastor Paul Vallee
  3. Aug 10

    August 9, 2026 - Experiencing the Secrets of a Healthy Life - Pastor Paul Vallee

    In 911 A. D., a Carolingian ruler of France secured the services of a Viking named Roland to safeguard the coast of what is now present-day Normandy. He was successful in warding off other Viking attacks and integrated into French life, becoming a Christian and embracing the French language. This area became known as Normandy because these Vikings originated from the north. The Vikings then turned their raiding to England. In 980 A.D., the Anglo-Saxon king, Ethelred, created an alliance with the Normans by agreeing to marry the daughter of the Duke of Normandy. This decision had an impact then and in the near future.   In 1066 A.D., the Anglo-Saxon king, Edward the Confessor, died, and there was no heir. Immediately, three people made claims to the throne: Harald Hardrada, king of Norway; Harold Godwinson, the Earl of Wessex; and William, Duke of Normandy, a descendant of that union between Ethelred and his Norman wife, who later became known as William the Conqueror. Harold Godwinson defeated the Norwegian king, but the cost was so great that when William invaded England a few months later, he was killed in battle at Hastings and eventually conquered all of England. He placed Norman aristocracy over land holdings in England, and the language of court became French. Today, the English language is embedded with words from French roots. The decisions we make today impact not only our lives but others. We know we affect our family. Christianity is more than just a prayer of introduction; it is a total surrender of our lives to God. Many people continue to struggle in their Christian life, but one reason is that we still try to hang onto the past. Another reason we struggle is when we follow Jesus from a distance. Like Peter, on the night he betrayed Jesus, his faith was challenged, and he faltered and failed. We can expect that each of us will be tested and our faith challenged at different moments in life. Will we deny Him? How can we move past living an inconsistent lifestyle, and walk in freedom and be spiritually healthy?

    August 9, 2026 - Experiencing the Secrets of a Healthy Life - Pastor Paul Vallee
  4. Jul 27

    July 26, 2026 - The Truth About Our World and Its Message - Pastor Paul Vallee

    “In his provocatively titled book From Darwin to Hitler, historian Richard Weikart examines the revolutionary impact Darwinism had on the ethics and morality of social thinkers in Nazi Germany. Believing that Darwinism had overturned any sense of the sanctity of human life, an evolutionary ‘fitness’ (especially in terms of intelligence and health) became the highest arbiter of morality for the Nazis.  Weikart concludes that Darwinism played a strategic role not only in the rise of euthanasia, infanticide, abortion and racial extermination-all ultimately embraced by the Nazis. The contention that Hitler built his views on Darwinian principles raises one of the most important truths a mind can comprehend: Ideas have consequences.” While many people in our current society believe that this concept of evolution, with its corresponding concept of the survival of the fittest, rejects God or any intelligent designer of our world. A naturalistic and scientific explanation is the only reasonable and intelligent position that many people maintain. If one is to challenge or doubt their position, they are then considered unreasonable, stupid, dangerous, insane, and even wicked. Atheists like Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett would argue this position quite vehemently.   In Dennett’s ‘Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, he writes: “To put it bluntly but fairly, anyone today who doubts that the variety of life on this planet was produced by a process of evolution is simply ignorant-inexcusably ignorant.”  Richard Dawkins wrote in a 1989 New York Times book review that ‘it is absolutely safe to say that if you meet someone who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I’d rather not consider that).” So, what does the Bible have to say about the origins of matter, life, and the existence of God? The bible never tries to prove God; rather, it simply makes that a statement of fact.  Psalm 19 explains not only how God reveals himself but also exposes our true condition before him.

    July 26, 2026 - The Truth About Our World and Its Message - Pastor Paul Vallee

About

Passion for God, Compassion for People. Life happens. If you missed a sermon, want another listen or want to forward your favourite message to a friend, you can do it right here, right now! We trust our messages will encourage and inspire you, don’t take our word for it; check it out yourself!