Ogungbangbe Urges National Rebirth And Return To God In A Sermon At Christian Annual Harvest

By ISAAC OLUSESI

The name Dr Thomas Olaleye Ogungbangbe goes easily and clearly for a Christian but, not everyone knows, he's the Bible clutching believer who practically lives the scriptural tenets and teachings. The apostolic wise.

The Cherubim & Seraphim Model Gospel Church, Ijeda Ijesa in Oriade local government council area of Osun State played host to him, as a guest preacher yesterday, Sunday.

Ogungbangbe, a Special Apostle in the Cherubim & Seraphim Church Worldwide Ayo Ni o (Member Of Cherubim & Seraphim Unification Church of Nigeria) took elegantly humble steps as he appeared suavely from a section of the church in strikingly immaculate white church regalia and was ushered to the podium.

Mum was the word as he began his exposition of the 2024 Adult Harvest Anniversary of the host church. Behind the pulpit, he raised his head, benign, gently in a split of second; and in a full second, he looked tender and then beamed with smiles, with humane parting of his lips in gratitude to God for the opportunity of the day and sermon.

As Special Apostle Ogungbangbe reeled out: "let's celebrate God who has preserved us all," everyone who knows him quite well roared in the background and called him a positivist, pragmatist and humanitarian, a firm believer in God and dignity of man.

Ogungbangbe, the cleric made particularistic references to the Bible and declared concordance with the church harvest theme: _"He asked you for life, and you gave it to Him length of days, for ever and ever."_  

He stated that the theme, taken from Psalm 21 vs. 4 entrenched the believer's step in God, worthy of emulation in the direction of integrated harmony with his Maker, love for the Maker, and human beings and care for one another. 

Making succinct citations in the Bible, Special Apostle Ogungbangbe gave the sermon, incisive, spirit filled and detailed that made the day. The congregation, other eminent personalities were taken on persuasively penetrating covenant with the theme of the sermon and God by solid resolve and symbolic pragmatism as recipe for harmonious relationship of man with God.

The guest preacher hammered on the main stay of the theme of the year's Adult Harvest Anniversary of the church to mean the benefits of man's submission or obedience to his Maker  as salvation of human soul, healing of infirmities, deliverance and protection perfectly against all devilish antics, separation from poverty, lack, and restoration into divine blessings, sequelae or consequential to _"He asked for your life, and you gave it to Him length of days for ever and ever."_

Ogungbangbe the clergy man charged Nigerians, particularly the audience to get rejigged to the covenant of the theme of the harvest for redemption to harvest more of the His Grace and urged all to take home the homily. The sermon must be used as a platform for national rebirth and, a return to God and humanitarian service.

The reporter had a painful experience but circumstantial, to end soonest. He nonetheless took it in its stride, and followed on the trajectory of the harvest and its sermon scintillated with praise worship, songs and blared trumpets and flutes in the backdrop of the 2024 Adult Anniversary of the church. 

The church was greatly impressed by the quality of the sermon and the preacher who anchored the sermon, matched six and half a dozen, both lived up to the billings of the event and the Holy Spirit. The binocular of the sermon put everybody in its eye and no one person or a thing in particular, was any target.

While the praise worship season pitched high up, the worshipers and invited guests of own accord, dissolved into an expression of ultimate surprise with satisfaction to catch another glimpse of Ogungbangbe, the well heeled priest, full of humanness and a friend of the poor, lowly and needy, as he bowed out and led back to his seat. He's also a politician of high standing in the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the Ife/Ijesa axis of the state.

Special Apostle Ogungbangbe was "definitely articulate, even so behind the pulpit who top notched a far first score," one said. "The preacher has never for once boasted of his spiritual tigritude, that's identity, he acted it," another said. Also, another noted "the preacher gave the people reflections of him as a man at the service of God and his people." And still, one described the preacher as "both intellectual and scriptural when he addressed the contemporary man and his spiritual problems and proffered solutions."

But they asked the reporter why so much of his eagerly charming in the pastoral setting and the accompanying human kindness? And findings keenly gave this inkling: Special Apostle Thomas Olaleye Ogungbangbe Ph.D was brought up in a humble Christian home to which he owes much of his spiritual underpinnings. Both his parents, now rested in the Lord, had a great capacity for philanthropic activities and high sensitivity to the predicaments of the down trodden and all of that have remained as inspirations to him.

So many people including big wigs of APC, came for the event, from far and near, hugged into back slaps and banters that caught up on the past. Nostalgia! Trust, that's it. Like for some of the guests, the event provided the much needed rest from the hustles and bustles out there.

 *OLUSESI writes via* zicfemol@gmail.com