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Unexpected Grace: The Break Up
- Free Church
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Unexpected Grace: The Break Up | Gareth Nicholson | 07 December 2025
We’ve all been there. A moment, a decision, a comment, a relationship, a choice you wish you could undo. Maybe it's something recent. Maybe it’s something from years ago. Or maybe you’re living in that season right now - carrying the weight of “I should have… I could have… I wish I hadn’t…”
There’s a word for that cycle: rumination. It’s when a negative thought captures your mind and spirals you downward, over and over again. Neuroscientists even say that 80% of our thoughts as humans are negative. So most of us spend enormous energy revisiting regrets, replaying mistakes, and rehearsing the things we wish we could change.
But the message of the gospel is radically different:
Mistakes are inevitable. Mercy is available. Misery is optional.
Through Jesus, we don’t have to live trapped by rumination or regret. His mercy frees us to rise above the weight of our failures.
Unexpected Grace in the Christmas Story
This is why our Christmas series is called Unexpected Grace. Because when God’s extraordinary grace collides with broken people, unexpected things happen.
And nowhere is that more visible than in Jesus’ own family tree.
Matthew opens the entire New Testament not with angels or shepherds - but with a genealogy. And tucked inside that list of names are some surprising, even shady, characters. People like Tamar… and today’s focus: Rahab.
Rahab was a Canaanite woman, a prostitute living in the city of Jericho - someone no one would expect God to use. And yet, when two Israelite spies arrived at her door in Joshua 2, everything changed.
Rahab’s Choice
Rahab had heard the stories of the God of Israel:
He parted the Red Sea.
He defeated powerful kings.
He led His people through the wilderness.
While Jericho trembled in fear, Rahab responded in faith.
She protected the spies. She asked for mercy. She tied a scarlet cord in her window - a sign that she believed God would save her. And He did. When Jericho’s walls fell, hers remained standing.
Archaeologists say one section of Jericho’s wall still appears preserved. Could it have been Rahab’s home? We don’t know for sure - but it’s a beautiful picture of how God protects those covered by grace.
Rahab wasn’t just rescued. She was brought into God’s family, married an Israelite named Salmon, became the mother of Boaz, the ancestor of King David, and ultimately was written into the lineage of Jesus Christ Himself.
From prostitute→ to protector→ to ancestor of the Messiah.
That’s the power of unexpected grace.
What Rahab Teaches Us
1. You always have a choice in how you respond to God.
Everyone in Jericho heard the stories. Only Rahab responded with surrender.
We all face the same choice:
Will I build walls around my heart, or will I surrender to the God who saves?
2. Your past does not disqualify you.
Rahab didn’t let her track record convince her she wasn’t worthy of grace. She didn’t clean herself up first or change her life before stepping into God’s story. She said yes - and then transformation came later.
In Hebrews 11 - the “Hall of Faith” - Rahab’s name appears alongside heroes like Abraham, Moses, and David. The text still calls her “Rahab the prostitute,” not to shame her, but to highlight how far grace brought her.
Your label is not your identity. Your past is not your future. Your mistakes do not disqualify you.
3. Grace invites you to break up with what holds you back.
Hebrews 12 encourages us to lay aside every weight that slows us down. Some of us are running the race while carrying baggage we were never meant to bear - guilt, regret, shame, self-disqualification, old mindsets, destructive habits.
Maybe it’s time for a breakup.
A breakup with:
The belief that you’re not good enough
The lie that your past defines your future
The rumination that keeps looping your mistakes
The voice that says God can use everyone… except you
Rahab’s story shows us: You don’t have to clean yourself up to come to God. But walking with Him will begin to clean you from the inside out.
Your Name in His Story
Just like Rahab, your story doesn’t end with your mistakes. When you say yes to Jesus, your name becomes part of His story - a story that stretches into eternity.
This is my prayer for our church:
That years from now, heaven’s genealogy would read something like -
“And through their faith… through their obedience… through their courage… the kingdom of heaven was built in Centurion in 2025, 2026, 2027…”
If God can use Rahab, He can use you. If His grace transformed her life, His grace can transform yours.
So maybe today is the day to break up with the things that have held you back - and step fully into the unexpected grace of God.
Life Group Discussion Questions
What is God asking me to lay down so I can make room for what He wants to grow in me next year?
How have I experienced spiritual growth this year, and where do I sense God inviting more growth?
Who in my life can I encourage or support as they pursue their own spiritual growth?
How can I keep my heart open and expectant for what God wants to do next?
How do I respond when the Holy Spirit prompts me - do I hesitate, or do I move?
Uplifting