Filled with Fragments

John 6:13

Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

One of my favorite miracles that Jesus performed was the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus had very little to start with, but He ended up with much more after all the fragments were gathered. All Jesus had to start with was five loaves of bread and two fishes, but that was sufficient to feed the five thousand and to fill twelve baskets with the fragments.

Filling a church with people is never easy, yet that is the desire of the Saviour. When God does a work, He always fills what He works through. When looking in the Scriptures, you will see that God’s great works result in something being filled. When Solomon finished building and dedicating the temple to the LORD, you will find the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD. (1 Kings 8:11) When Jesus talked about the Great Supper in Luke 14:23, He said the lord told the servants to compel people to come in that my house may be filled. When Jesus blessed the five loaves of bread and two fishes, it resulted in twelve baskets being filled with fragments. God wants to fill His house and His work. Never let the lazy and backslidden shame you into not wanting God’s desire to fill your church. God never compliments an empty church, but He makes it clear that He wants His house to be filled. Let me share a few thoughts on how to fill your church.

First, start with what you have. Jesus only had five loaves of bread and two fishes to feed five thousand people. You can bemoan that you don't have what others have, or you can take what you have and see what God will do with it. Too many want the church to be filled without faith and hard work, but a church will never be filled without faith, hard work, and God working through you. Every church that has been filled started with little, but they worked hard to fill it. I know when I took my church, we were in a 300-seat auditorium with about 50 or 60 in that auditorium. Instead of letting it defeat me, I let it challenge me to fill it, but I started with what I had.

Second, attempt big days with what you have. Jesus succeeded at feeding the five thousand with the bread and fish that He had. You will never have a big day unless you attempt a big day. I would rather fail at attempting to have a big day than succeed at mediocrity because I never attempted anything big for God. God cannot fill something that you don't attempt to fill. Oh, it will take faith and hard work, but to see it filled is worth it.

Third, don't be concerned with what type of people you are filling your church with; just fill it. Jesus didn't fill the twelve baskets with whole loaves of bread, but with fragments. The fragments were the leftovers that nobody wanted. I would rather have a church filled with the fragments of life that nobody wants than to have a museum of believers who do nothing for God. If you really want God to do something miraculous in your church, you must gather the fragments of life that nobody wants, and you will see God fill your church.

My friend, get a mindset to fill your church. Once you have that mindset, get busy gathering fragments from society and you will find that God will fill the church building He has given you.