INDIANAPOLIS – From the first song it was clear Christian rock group Jars of Clay was using more than just lyrics to reach its youthful audience during a spiritually charged concert at the “Dawn ... an Epiphany” celebration. The crossover pop/rock band, which has shot up mainstream music charts the last four years, sent a spiritual message resonating through about 4,000 jubilant concert-goers at the Indianapolis Convention Center on Dec. 29. A message of hope in Christ.

Message received.

“It was so awesome,” said an elated Emily Hergert, a 17-year-old member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lincoln, Neb. “Their message was so balanced. The crowd was really getting into it,” she said describing her stint in the frenzy, head-banging stage-front section known as the “mosh pit.”

Concert-goers at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) youth and young adult millennium-ending celebration signaled its appreciation for the group’s musical ministry by waving flourescent green tubes and flicking lighters against a background of song-interrupting cheers and applause of appreciation.

“They really talked to the young people and reached out to them,” chipped in Lita Simpson, a member of First Presbyterian Church in McAllen, Texas, who said she was in her forties. “I thought it was great. It was more than (my friends) expected and it was more than I expected.”

The four band members, two of whom grew up in Parkminster Presbyterian Church in Rochester, N.Y., met during the mid-1990s while attending Greenville College, a Free Methodist-affiliated liberal arts school in Greenville, Ill., developing both friendship and confirming their devotion to Christ through music. It’s faith in Christ that allows people to pass through difficult periods and emerge stronger, according to group members.

“He’s worked through so many peoples’ lives, even our own,” lead singer Dan Haseltine told the audience during the 90-minute performance. “It is humbling ... .”

The multi-platinum success of Jars of Clay – their 1995 mainstream debut album included the hit single “Flood,” and their second release “Much Afraid” won a Grammy in 1997 – has catapulted the group, once known as “Jars Boys,” to enormous national success. Music videos soon followed on MTV and VH-1, as did network appearances on such programs as “CBS This Morning,” “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and the “Conan O'Brien Show.”

The group, currently touring to support its latest release, “If I Left The Zoo,” also has participated in movie soundtracks, including “Prince of Egypt.”

Jars of Clay, whose musical influences include the Beatles, frequently compose slow, methodical lyrics expressing the complexity of personal relationships and God’s hand in persevering. Songs have even chronicled difficulties between band members themselves. These closest of friends can experience tense moments, especially when touring the nation by cramped mini-van during Jar’s early days.

“A book that I read during one difficult summer...showed me that I may not have forgiveness to offer (band members) Dan (Haseltine) or Steve (Mason) or Matt (Odmark),” said keyboards player Charlie Lowell, who grew up attending Parkminster Church, along with Odmark. “But that’s the whole reason that Christ gave his life, because he is full of grace. To extend that grace to us, to give to each other. (After reading the book) I didn’t have to look inside myself to find it. I mean to look to Christ for that forgiveness.”

The song “Crazy Times,” which the group performed from its “Much Afraid” album, deals with similar emotions and the unfortunate consequences of what happens when one refuses God’s help.

“It seems it’s always the crazy times/You find you’ll wake up and realize/It takes more time than your saline eyes/To make things right,” the song says. The track “Fade to Grey” (also from “Much Afraid”) deals with dark times, too.

“It”s really a spirit thing,” said guitar player Stephen Mason. “We have to trust the Holy Spirit to guide and direct.”

While band members expressed some concern, they believe their inherently Christian message won’t fade away as the lines between Christian and mainstream music continues to blur for the group.

“There is a way of doing it,” said Mason. “There’s a balance of being bold and really writing what we know is true. But also using it in a style...that won’t alienate non-believers that would certainly serve the point of what we’re doing. But it’s hard.”

As for the future for Jars of Clay, that’s in God’s hands, too. And that's just fine with Mason and his musical colleagues.

“It’s really a Spirit thing,” Mason said. “We really have to trust the Holy Spirit to guide and direct.”