Christmas albums come but once a year – maybe only once in a band’s career – but even the most seasoned bands carefully craft these albums with just a hint of fear.

“You feel like you don’t want to mess up someone’s favorite Christmas carol, but you want to put your own stamp on it,” says Nathan Cochran, bassist for Christian crooners MercyMe.

After 11 years together, MercyMe took that bold step and released its first Christmas album, “The Christmas Sessions,” this September.

With one original track, titled “Joseph’s Lullaby,” the album consists of the band’s favorite carols.

Before MercyMe signed to a label, it had a humble start, releasing six albums on its own.

The perseverance that got the band through those initial years and brought MercyMe to its present success comes from something bigger than a love for music, Cochran says.

“We all kind of realized our talent for music and we wanted to use that talent to honor the Lord,” Cochran says.

Cochran says he has been a Christian since he was 10 years old – old enough to understand Christianity, and this band is one part of him living for God.

Given the band’s religious roots, the decision to make a Christmas album seems obvious. Cochran says the Christmas season means more to him than singing songs and giving gifts, and it is his purpose in life that makes this album and this holiday tour so special to him.

“I’ve always had the reason for celebrating Christmas in my head,” he says.

Although the album’s Christmas tunes may have a closer connection to the holiday’s Christian roots, the band’s audience is not limited to Christians. With the 2002 hit “I Can Only Imagine,” MercyMe was propelled into mainstream music and is now said to have overcome its label as just a Christian band.

Cochran says that in the past, the label Christian band meant that not only did the band have something to say, the members weren’t musically talented.

Cochran says, however, this has been reversed in the past five years. Music all across the board has stepped up.

“Now the only difference between a Christian band and a normal band are the lyrics,” he says.

He says MercyMe will always be a Christian band because the passion the members have for God drives what they do, but being accepted by mainstream fans has been a positive thing for the band.

“It’s been great to have a whole new audience,” he says. “You get people that have never been to a Christian show before and come just because they know [I Can Only Imagine].”

Touring during the holidays will mean being away at a time when the band members are used to being with their families, and since all of the members are married and most have kids, much of the MercyMe family will be left home alone for the holidays.

Cochran says the hardest part of being in the band is missing his family, but there is a calling in his life that takes precedence.

“We know we were called into doing this by the Lord,” Cochran says.

Cochran says if their songs outlive them, he hopes that people’s memories of MercyMe will reflect their reasons for doing what they’re doing.

“I hope people understand that we’re trying to do things with integrity and to honor the Lord,” he says.

Who: MercyMe and Steven Curtis Chapman

Where: Wells Fargo Arena, 730 3rd St., Des Moines

When: 7 p.m., Thursday

Cost: $49.50, $34.50 or $18 at Box Office