U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs led a sermon of sorts at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver Saturday morning, as he spoke to two of the event’s tenets: faith and freedom.

Lamborn is the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services subcommittee on Readiness and co-chair of the House Values Action Team. As such, he performs congressional oversight of how religious freedom is allowed by the Department of Defense.

He spoke of service members who had to fight for their personal religious liberty as well as the nation’s liberty, according to his prepared remarks.

“Religious freedom is the foundation upon which all other rights are built,” he told the gathering of conservatives. “The First Amendment sits atop the Bill of Rights like a sentry in defense of the rest. It is no coincidence that within our First Amendment, religion is listed before any other freedom.”

He said freedom of religion has turned “the American experiment into American exceptionalism.”

“From John Winthrop to President Donald J. Trump, our leaders have looked to God for his providence in the forging of our American destiny,” Lamborn said. “But as a nation, we cannot ask God for his guidance without the religious freedom to pray it.”

Then he pivoted to service members.

“Today, the same American warriors fighting the enemies of religious freedom around the world are becoming victimized by the culture war at home,” he said. “Soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are being targeted by radical leftists, atheists, and socialists who condemn faith, traditional values, and even the name of God. The very right to ‘enact religion’ as it is described in the First Amendment is at risk for our servicemen.”