As soon as Matt Maher starts to sing his contemporary worship songs on stage, he sees a familiar expression on fans’ faces.

It’s the “Oh, I didn’t know he was the guy who wrote that song moment,” he says from the road, where he’s touring for the third time with The Rock & Worship Roadshow.

Maher has been a full-time, touring musician since 2009, when he left a position as worship leader at an Arizona church after more than a dozen years. He and his wife moved to Nashville in 2012 so he could focus on writing. He’s in an interesting position, he says. During his years at the church, he wrote many songs that became popular but weren’t necessarily associated with him.

The popular and family-friendly Christian music roadshow, produced by Compassion International, a global child sponsorship organization based in Colorado Springs, stops at The Broadmoor World Arena on Thursday.

It was founded in 2009 by MercyMe, a Christian rock band, and given a flat $10 admission fee. Since then, the tour has performed more than 150 shows for 1.2 million fans. Brian Seay, artist relations regional director for Compassion, expects Thursday’s crowd will fill the 8,000-seat arena.

“It’s a huge reminder to all the people there that they’re part of a movement that’s bigger than themselves,” Maher says about the event. “Christianity is a movement that we believe Jesus started 2,000 years ago, and it’s a global movement helping people be free and to deal with all the injustice in the world, including poverty. The big reason all the artists are there is because we all believe in Compassion International.”

All of the tour’s acts, including MercyMe, Crowder and Jamie Grace, perform a short set – Maher’s is 25 minutes. Interspersed between sets are several presentations, including how to sponsor a child through Compassion.

“I think there is always a goal and hope that our music could help people’s inner transformation,” Maher says. “It’s something that’s all a bit mysterious, that I can sit in my room and in the midst of my own struggles and fears out comes a song, which is just a prayer I’m writing between myself and God. Then it gets recorded and put on airwaves and people own it as their own prayer. It’s a humbling thing.”

DETAILS

Starring MercyMe, Crowder, Matt Maher, Jamie Grace, Tedashii, Group 1 Crew, Jon Guerra, I Am They, Shaun Groves and others, 7 p.m. Thursday, March 26, The Broadmoor World Arena, 3185 Venetucci Blvd., $10, free ages 1 and younger, $50 VIP; theroadshowtour.com.