Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice and current gubernatorial candidate Roy Moore greeted members of First Christian Church Sunday morning with more important items on his agenda than campaigning.

Moore delivered a sermon on the role of God in our nation and, most notably, the government.

Demopolis Pastor Marshall Murphy said Moore’s sermon definitely grabbed the attention of those in attendance.

“It really was a powerful sermon,” Murphy said. “I think that when a lot of people heard he was coming, they just thought ‘Ten Commandments.’ I think a lot of people were surprised that he talked more about the role of God in our lives and nation.”

Murphy said the basis of the message was an excellent wake-up call to Alabamians and Americans.

“I think many of us, as Christians, when we look at the Bible, we realize that we need to go into the world and preach the gospel,” Murphy said. “But, I think may of us fail to acknowledge God in our communities and workplaces and we thank Judge Moore for being here this morning and sharing with us the importance of our duty to do just that.”

A problem exists throughout the state of Alabama, Moore said from the Walnut Street pulpit, is the government’s acknowledgement of God.

“What we have going on is a great hypocrisy and it is going on in Demopolis, Selma, it is going on in Birmingham and it is going on in Mobile,” Moore said. “We have got a government pretending to acknowledge God, but if they really believed it, they could be removed from their office.”

The problems, Moore said, are highly publicized, but they are the same problems people have faced throughout time.

“The minute you say there is a particular God, they say you have violated the United States Constitution,” Moore told the congregation. “This is nothing new. We have developed a mindset that tells us we know better and act better than our forefathers did, but the truth is, nothing is new. This same thing that is going on in our country today has been going on for centuries.”

There were also misconceptions, Moore said, about the true meaning of separation of church and state.

“It does not mean separating God from government,” Moore said. “Can you separate God from government? No, because God ordained government. Civil government is ordained by God, but today we take separation of church and state for word and we say we need to separate God and government.”

Moore said the true meaning of separation of church and state has become distorted over time.

“There is a separation of church and state,” Moore said. “But, it does not mean we have to separate God and government. It means to separate those jurisdictions that God created for us. When people say separation of church and state, we ought to thank them because it recognizes the sovereignty of God.”

Involving God in government, Moore said, is a principle the United States government was founded on.

“This country is the only country in the world to form under the concept that God gives us rights and the government’s role is to secure those rights for us,” Moore said. “When government denies God, can the state acknowledge God?”

Murphy said he hoped people would take the initiative to acknowledge God in their everyday life. He said sometimes we need a reminder of how important this is, which made Moore’s appearance even more valuable.

“I think it is our duty to acknowledge God in our society and a lot of us don’t do that,” Murphy said. “I think we need people like Judge Moore to remind us of that.”