A Message About Eternal Workings : Gospel: Grammy winner Sandi Patti, who appears tonight and Friday in Anaheim, strives to make music that is uplifting and fosters Christianity.

For singer Sandi Patti, music has long been much more than an enriching and satisfying form of artistic expression: It’s a means of conveying the ideals and values that she considers paramount.

“I love music. It’s always been a wonderful way to express what’s inside of me,” says the 34-year-old five-time Grammy winner, whose “Another Time . . . Another Place” for the Word label won a 1990 Grammy for Best Pop Gospel Album.

“And I believe in the message that’s in the music, the life-changing message that’s about Jesus Christ, a message I have centered my life around,” says the Anderson, Ind., resident who performs tonight and Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center on a bill that also includes Wayne Watson.

Patti, who started singing as a youth in the Church of God in Anderson of which her father was, and remains, the minister, believes her music should serve a dual purpose.

The first aspect is to encourage people. “I know that I have good days and not-so-good days, and on (the latter), sometimes a particular phrase I read or hear taps into something inside of me and tells me to hang in there, keep putting one foot in front of the other,” says Patti, who has released 11 albums in her 12-year professional career. “People need that.”

Her other aspiration carries deeper philosophical implications.

“I would want my music to challenge people to use a deeper commitment to the Lord,” says the singer, who received significant exposure for her performance of the national anthem at the unveiling of the restored Statue of Liberty in 1986. “This could mean encouraging them to daily Bible study or daily prayer time or regular church attendance or getting involved with a group that fosters Christian values.”

Those values are at the heart of what Patti believes in, and sings about. “The world seems to say, ‘Look out for No. 1, forget about the other guy,” she says. “Christian values are completely the opposite. They stress considering the other person first, being willing to sacrifice something you would want to do on behalf of someone else. Or taking that commitment to marriage and family seriously.”

For Patti, who defines her style as “Adult Contemporary, or MOR, which is about the same as pop in secular music,” her family is her primary concern. She and her husband John Helvering, who also is her manager, have four children--Anna, 6, twins Jennifer and John, 3 and Eric, 14 months.

“Being a mom, being there for my kids as much as possible, is very important to me, whether it’s me fixing breakfast or packing their lunches or being there when they get home from school,” Patti said, explaining why this is her first solo tour in almost two years. “I can’t always (be there) because of our traveling (Helvering usually travels with her), but I try as much as possible to arrange my schedule so I can be there with my kids. That’s the toughest thing in my life, balancing my artistic side with being with my family.”

Patti, who cites Barbra Streisand, Karen Carpenter and the Beatles as strong early influences, grew up in her father’s church singing Christian music.

“I always enjoyed it,” she says. And even though she began appearing as a soloist in her teens and made records while still in high school, it wasn’t until she was in college that she started doing concerts on a regular basis and found that “music seemed to be a significant door that I wanted to walk through.”

Linking her concert performances with her basic values, the singer describes her shows as “family evenings” that draw mostly on her latest records with a few favorite classics, like “How Great Thou Art.”

“I seem to appeal to more of a young adult audience,” she says. “They bring their kids, and at one point, we bring a lot of kids up on stage for an impromptu number.”

Back to her normal schedule of doing about 100 concert dates a year, Patti, who appeared at the Anaheim Convention Center in December as part of the all-star “Young Messiah” program, says she’s excited to be performing again. “It’s a little bit scary, yet mostly I’m really looking forward to it,” she says. “I can get weary from the traveling, but I love singing the concerts.”