Friday morning, the Truthseekers Homecoming was a wonderful combination of fellowship, music and teaching. The Truthseekers sang classics like “Everybody Ought To Know,” “I’m Satisfied,” “I’ve Got That Old Time Religion” and many others. After the music, Pastor Andy Lee came to the pulpit and spoke on a passage in 2 Timothy and once again, I was reminded why the Prayer Breakfast is a must for me every year. There’s so many sweet moments of worship!

Yet, if you’ve heard about the Truthseekers Homecoming, whether it be from this website or through advertisements, then you know the main event takes place downtown at the Marion Civic Center in the evenings. On Friday night, the folks in attendance settled into their seats for a concert with Sunday Drive, The Dixie Melody Boys and Triumphant Quartet.

After prayer and a few opening tunes from the Truthseekers, Sunday Drive opened the evening with their songs, “I Have Joy” and “I’ve Been Born Again.” Sunday Drive would be at Lone Oak Baptist Church the next day for a free afternoon concert and so the Truthseekers gave the crowd a little sneak peak by letting the group sing a few songs at the beginning of Friday night. I really enjoyed their family harmony and live band, though there were only four of them altogether! After singing “Living In The Middle Of His Will,” their steel guitar player started a verse of “Amazing Grace” and it wasn’t long before the crowd joined in. They did another song called “I’ll Live In Glory” and then two comedy songs Jeff Treece had written. The first was about getting old and the other one about a traffic jam – both had everyone laughing in seconds. They closed their short set with “A Million Miles.”

Up next, the Dixie Melody Boys took the stage with their classic quartet style. They opened their set with songs like “Little Is Much When God Is In It” and “The Lord Will Make A Way.” Ed O’Neal stood singing on the first song but after that, spent the remainder of the concert seated. Lead singer, Josh Garner, introduced Ed and shared a little about the long standing relationship the Dixie Melody Boys have had with the Truthseekers and most importantly, how they’ve impacted his life. Before their next song, Ed talked to the crowd and then sang “Family Bible.” Afterwards, Ed made a few comments about his chair, which led into a funny story about a Gaither Homecoming concert/video. Bill Gaither asked Ed to sit in one of the larger, cushy “Howard and Vestal” chairs down front and Ed politely declined. When Bill asked why, Ed replied, “‘Cause everyone who sits in those chairs are dead!” LOL! (I just love Ed’s sense of humor!) The quartet went on to sing a few more numbers like “Saving Grace That Saved My Soul,” “I’m Depending On Jesus,” “One Boundless Love” and several more. They closed their set with Josh exclaiming, “I want to hear our tenor sing this song!” It was “I Know A Man Who Can.”

The third group to appear on stage Friday evening was Triumphant and with their CD, “Yes,” being just released, I was excited to hear their new songs. I wasn’t disappointed! They came on stage with their smooth rendition of “Welcome Holy Spirit” and then went into “The Cross Is All The Proof I Need.” Scotty greeted the crowd as the intro kicked off for “Saved By Grace” and the crowd started clapping along to the upbeat music. Afterward, Eric stepped forward, quickly introduced the group and shared about their new CD. I was excited to hear that their next song was from the new album – it was their new radio single, “Even Me.” A beautiful song about John 3:16! Following, they sang their ballad “Amazing God” and then a harmonica / piano duet of Beulah Land. Their next tune was one I had not heard in a long, long time. Eric prefaced it by saying how impressed he was by watching a documentary on the Temptations, which encouraged them to try, “I Wish It Would Rain.” They did, and of course the crowd loved it! Another upbeat tune, “Thankful,” followed and then Eric shared how his son-in-law has started a church plant in the town that they live in and how God has been blessing it. He went on to share a story about a teenage girl who has accepted Christ because of Connect Church and read her testimony to the crowd from a Facebook post. When he finished with her amazing story of salvation and baptism, they sang the popular Zack Williams song, “Chain Breaker,” with an encore of the chorus acapella. They closed their set with “We Believe.”

At this point in the night the program broke for intermission and then we all came back into the auditorium for another round. The Dixie Melody Boys took the stage with their popular songs, “Please Let Me Sing In The Choir” and “Cross To The Other Side Of Jordan.” During “Cross To The Other Side Of Jordan,” there were several encores. On one of those, Josh Garner was out in the audience singing up and down the aisle…he even brought a tub of popcorn back on stage with him! LOL! On the last encore, Triumphant joined them and made a smooth transition for their portion of the second set. When it was their turn to sing, they started with another new song, called, “Yes.” They also sang “Look For Me” and “White Flag,” but my favorite part was their closing song, which happened to be another new one. It was called “Going There” and had a fun upbeat track.

Conclusion: What fun the second day of the Truthseekers Homecoming was! We enjoyed a lot of fellowship, music and most importantly, worship. Triumphant always does a great job and I was thrilled to hear some of their new music during the concert. I also enjoyed hearing the Dixie Melody Boys again and being introduced to Sunday Drive in person. A great night!