Luminate is a band that breathes a refreshing breath of intentionality and purpose into everything they do. Their debut album Come Home created sparks with its message of hope and purpose in Christ, and their dedicated work on the road over the next year fanned the flame. This August the seemingly tireless band released their sophomore album Welcome to Daylight, barely a year and a half after their debut.

NRT's Bill Lurwick got the chance to catch up with Luminate's front man Sam Hancock to discuss the band's purpose and future plans.

There are a lot of expectations for Luminate's sophomore project.  You’ve got Pete Kipley who’s worked with Mercy Me and Chris Stevens who works with TobyMac on this project. How do you guys as a band deal with the pressure to follow-up the success of the first album with Welcome to Daylight?

When we started we were kind of thinking, “Oh great. This one has to do better.” That kind of thing is always in the back of your mind. What if this record doesn’t sell?

Honestly the more I think about it, the idea that this record is my entire life is a lie from the enemy. It’s not. This is just an avenue. I always say it’s not what you do, it’s how you let God shine through what you do. That’s where I’m at right now. God is trusting me with this as my career, and I’m going to do it for His glory at my fullest capability.

It's that way with any career. If you're a teacher, teach and share the love of Christ in any way you can. If you're a doctor, administer to people not only physically, but spiritually. That’s what we’re all called to do. So I try to brush off the pressure by saying, “You know what? If worse came to worst and this thing just completely tanked, my identity would still be in Christ and not in this band.”

I believe that this record is going to do really well and reach people because we haven’t had this much anticipation for a record before, and we’ve never gotten this much good feedback before the record even came out. We’ve just got this weird feeling that God is going to do some great things with it, and we’re just along for the ride.

So your single from the album, “Banner of Love,” is doing great on the radio.

Yeah, that song almost didn’t make the record. It was a two year old song that we recorded for a compilation CD called Jesus Calling. We were working with producer Chris Stevens and he said, “What about that 'Banner of Love' song we worked on?”

Luckily they pulled it out and we rerecorded it, and now it’s doing great. We’re really blessed to have it on the radio right now.

“Battle for Peace” is a little switch in musical direction on Welcome to Daylight. What's the story behind that song?

“Battle for Peace” was what we felt in a moment where we were like, “we need a moment of pause just to let the spirit move.” That was a song of surrender, and that’s usually where I feel God the most. It’s when I put my ever-thinking mind to rest and just say “alright God. Here I am.”

The main idea that really hit me hard when I was writing it is that I’m trading this battle for peace. It’s hilarious to me— it’s impossible to find peace by fighting for it. If you’re fighting for peace, you’re focusing on it. You’re struggling with it. But Christ says, “Cast all of your cares on Me. Surrender to Me.”

When you do that, the picture becomes way bigger and the problem seems way smaller. That’s what that song is about. It’s about that moment of realizing that Christ has you in His hands, and the only way you can get through and keep your sanity is to really surrender to God and allow Him to say, “I’ve got this. Sit back with me.”

I’m really intrigued about the song “Heal this Home.”

I get married September 8^th. That’s where this song is birthed from. Honestly, I just see some marriages either on the edge of ending, including my family members. Honestly it’s something that can cause fear, especially going into a marriage. What happens in 10 or 15 years? Will I look at her the same way, will I love her the same way?

I wrote this song with a friend of mine who is married. I gave the perspective of “I’m coming into it and I’m nervous what to do,” and he came at it from “I’ve been through this and we’re still together.” We really just wanted to find that focus on God being the center of your relationship as the only way you can actually get through that, because it’s a covenant in marriage.

Marriage says “I’m forfeiting my choice and I’m just going to love you. There’s no option. I will love you.” I just want that to stay, not by my own power, but by God’s Holy Spirit. It’s whenever the times get tough and things aren’t the same and it’s not as romantic as it used to be, God can still heal, and He is the one that we’re going to cling to.

I’m hoping the song can really touch a lot of married people who are in that 15, 20, 25 year section of marriage and feeling like, “We’re really having to fight to love each other right now.” I think God is going to move in them. The Spirit is going to do some repair work.

What’s the most fun song for you guys on this album?

One of most fun would have to be the title track. “Welcome to Daylight” just comes right out into this awesome 80’s mixture of all these musical blends. But I would say the very best moment is called “This Ends Tonight,” and it’s the only song I’ve written and directed towards the devil.

It was kind of scary, because you’re like, “What if he attacks us?” But I’m over it. Who cares? It’s literally a song saying “excuse me, devil. You are mistaken. You’re never going to take me out. You can do anything you want, but there’s no possible way that you can really remove me from doing what God’s calling me to do. Even death itself would bring me to God and He would be victorious.”

It’s just that confidence in Christ that the enemy can literally do anything he wants, but it’s not enough. For me that’s really fun because it’s the only way I’ve learned as a Christian musician to get a little attitude. People are like, “Yeah. The devil doesn’t have anything on me.” You can see it in their faces. I don’t have to be a victim anymore. That’s what I really enjoy about that song.

It’s also got that really awesome beat to it and a good swing. It’s a pretty intense song. It’s really fun.

Can folks catch you on tour this fall, or is that going to be on hiatus because you're getting married?

The fall tour is packed. It’s four days after my honeymoon and honestly I really am blessed by my fiancé. She grew up in a musical home, so she’s ready for it. We’re going out with Newsboys. We're super blessed to be on that tour— for some reason God’s like, “Here you go. Go share this record with people.”

After that, we’re going out with Mark Shultz at Christmastime for their Christmas tour. It’s going to be a pretty busy next 6 to 8 months, but we’re excited to share this record with people and really see lives changed.

Always a pleasure to speak with you at New Release Tuesday. We're excited about your sophomore release Welcome to Daylight.

Thank you so much. Always a pleasure to talk to you too.