It’s a little word, but it means something has or is about to change.  For example, “the Orc armies are crushing the kingdoms of middle earth, BUT Gandalf comes from the east with reinforcements!” Or, “the army of Israel is frozen in fear, BUT David comes to Goliath in the Name of the Lord!” Or,  “the Lions have never won a Super Bowl BUT,” never mind.  (We can always hope) You get the point.  Our text for Sunday doesn’t seem as epic as a battle scene but with a little thought, you’ll see that my previous examples pale in comparison.  The otherwise formal Englishman, Rev. Stuart Briscoe wrote, “The Divine answer to the bad news is one of the biggest buts in world literature.”  I just have to wonder if he read that statement out loud before he sent his manuscript to the printer.  As long as we are on the subject of big buts, there is a companion but to the but under consideration in Romans.  Compare Romans 3:21 with Ephesians 2:4. I think Paul enjoyed making the situation as bleak as possible before writing the big but.  And, it is BIG.  The whole world was under sin and the wrath of God was revealed against it.  There was no way out from under this penalty…BUT God!  The righteousness we lacked was given to us by Him; His righteousness was made available to us as a gift through the glorious work of Christ.  So, last week, we learned about our desperate need, this week, we’ll learn about God’s glorious provision in Christ.  Have your Communion elements ready so we can celebrate “together” around the Lord’s Table.  Our biggest problem is solved.