We are having some difficult times, and people are struggling, but there are some things we need to realize and remember this morning.

“A few centuries ago, 4/5s of the French spent 90% of their income for food. With only what you and I consider a marginal tip to a waitress, they had to provide for all of their other needs. Europe had been in that condition for thousands of years. Until recent times, Europe was little different from modern Africa with the vast majority of people living on subsistence wages, eking out an existence from hand to mouth. Even as recently as 1780 in Germany, fewer than 1,000 people earned $1,000 a year or more.” ( D. James Kennedy, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born, Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 1994, p. 117)