Christian music group performs at Nativity
Spread message of Jesus in songs

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
April 14, 2005

One, two, three, four! This was the start of the Christian concert held in the gym at Nativity Parish in Sioux City on April 7.

The band, Remedy Drive, from Lincoln, Neb. traveled to Sioux City to give the concert at the request of Angie and Les Lutter of Bronson, who are Immaculate Conception parishioners. The couple had seen Remedy before and thought it would be a good thing to bring to a Catholic audience.

"We thought that a lot of teenagers didn't realize that Christian music didn't have to be boring," said Angie. "We went to a few Christian concerts that my daughter had recommended, namely Life Light in Sioux Falls. We realized that especially Catholic youth weren't seeing that aspect of Christian music. That is why we wanted to bring it to a Catholic venue in particular."

Although the concert was held at a Catholic school, the event was open to all denominations.

Remedy is comprised of four brothers, David, Daniel, Philip and Paul Zach. Each member plays an instrument as well as offering vocals.

Before Remedy took the stage, 24/7 Youth Worship Band from River Hills Church in South Sioux City, Neb. played. The band members include Deserai Bobier, Amanda McLarty, Seth McDonald, Tim Barns, Lance Britton and Tommie Van Deventer.

When the Zach brothers picked up their guitars and drumsticks, the crowd began to cheer. By the end of the night, Angie noted that there were close to 320 people in the Nativity gym. The younger generation stood near the stage the entire concert jumping up and down and singing along with the songs they knew.

Throughout the Remedy portion of the evening, David read a Bible verse and spoke to the crowd about his relationship with God.

"I am so glad, so happy and grateful that Jesus laid on a cross to take care of my sins," said David. The group then sang a song about what is going on in the kingdom of heaven.

David talked about how Jesus grew up, died at the age of 33 for the sins of everyone and rose from the dead.

"David did some great witness talks about Christ," said Angie. "It was silent while he was talking, which is really hard to do with a lot of people who are excited. That speaks highly of what he was saying."

During and after the concert, Jessica Shoemaker, a Heelan High School junior, had a table of cookies and soda for people to purchase. She collected baked goods from students involved in Miracle Makers at Heelan to sell at the concert.

Shoemaker is part of the Miracle Makers group and thought this would be a good way to raise money for people in need. She noted that the $160 that was made will go to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

"I thought the concert was awesome," said Shoemaker. "It is great to see a Christian group with that much talent and a lot of interest. The biggest thing with Christian groups is that they bring out the message that God is cool for teenagers. I think that is wonderful. It is a great reminder of what we believe in."

Angie noted that the concert went really well. Their goal was that no matter how many people attended the concert that "they would have good time and enjoy the music." She added that there are plans in the works to bring Remedy back in the fall.

"We ended up almost recovering everything it cost for us to put on the concert, which our goal was to put on another one if we did that," said Angie. "We did reach that goal, so we will be able to put on another concert."

For anyone interested in Remedy, visit their Web site at www.remedydrive.com. If there were youth groups or other groups that attended on April 7 and would like to be notified when Remedy returns to Siouxland, Angie noted that she can be contacted at (712) 948-3696.