January 2026

This month I am posting a review I wrote some time back about the 2023 film The Essential Church. What prompted this is that NFBC will be showing this film on Sunday night, February 22nd at 6 pm. This is an important film that has a message that reaches beyond the covid lockdown era. If church was essential then, is it not still essential now? God’s people need to meet. Unfortunately, amongst evangelicals there does exist an attitude that church attendance is not necessary or essential. It is true that a person is not justified before God by going to church, they are justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone. But it is essential for a justified/forgiven person to gather with God’s people and hear the Word preached weekly to grow in their sanctification/walk with Jesus Christ. I do hope this review will be of benefit to you.

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“We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29) The Apostle Peter said this in response to the Jewish leaders who commanded him and the other apostles not to speak in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is at the heart of the film The Essential Church. The story of Grace Community Church, GraceLife Church of Edmonton, and Fairview Baptist Church during the Covid lockdowns is told in a seamless way with beautiful cinematography, powerful music, and an overall superb production along with a powerful message about the authority of Christ Jesus over His Church. The movie also has a clear gospel presentation, so that everyone who watches will understand how to be saved. Pastors John MacArthur, James Coates, and Tim Stephens told of their accounts during the lockdowns with conviction and clarity, which makes for a very moving film.

The film does deals with various aspects surrounding the coronavirus lockdowns including the political agenda behind the lockdowns, the legal battles of the church to stay open, and the questionability of the science behind Covid-19 among other matters. This movie also includes powerful anecdotes and examples from church history that very much relate to what happened during the covid period. But again, I believe that at the heart of the film is an argument as to why the church had a right to stay open during the pandemic. The film makes a compelling case as to why the government has no right to tell the church how and when to worship, and for why Christ is the Head of His Church, and not Caesar (government). Mike Riccardi, a pastor at Grace Community Church, details his own wrestling with Romans 13, a chapter in Scripture that tells believer to submit to “governing authorities.” (Romans 13:1) Riccardi, after reading Martin Lloyd Jones' commentary on Romans 13 came to the understanding that the state does not have authority over the church, nor does the church have authority over the state. They are both authorities established by God, and each one has a certain jurisdiction. History has seen the error of both the church trying to control the state, as well as the error of the state trying to control the church. Both are authorities under God, but they each oversee a different sphere. When the lockdown mandates were first in place, Grace Community Church along with many other churches took the threat of the virus seriously and wanted to honor what the governing authorities were saying. When the mandates continued and increasingly became unreasonable, it became increasingly clear to the churches represented in this film as well as many other churches in the country that continuing to stay closed down would be spiritually detrimental for people, as well as disobedient to the Lord’s command to gather for worship (Hebrews 10:25).

Many disagreed with the conclusions of the pastors and people in this film. Was opening the churches an instance of obeying “God rather than men”? Does the government have authority to close down the church? Biblically speaking the government’s responsibility includes keeping peace in society (See Romans 13). But its responsibility does not include telling the church when and how it should worship. Jesus Christ is the only Head of His Church, and He governs it by His infallible Word.

Some may not agree with every point in the film, or every action that the churches and persons represented in this film took, and they don’t need to in order to agree with the overall trajectory. As mentioned earlier, the movie does deal some with the science behind covid, but that is not the main focus. The film demonstrates how governing authorities used the coronavirus situation to attempt to severely limit and control the gathering of Christ’s people to worship Him. John MacArthur and Grace Community Church, along with others, took a bold stand that inspired and encouraged countless other pastors and churches to do the same. God was faithful to His people during this time. May we learn the lesson. If you have not yet seen The Essential Church, please do so soon! It is now available on DVD as well as on the Grace Media app.

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And as mentioned earlier The Essential Church will be showing at Niagara Frontier Bible Church on Sunday night, February 22nd at 6 pm! We will also have food before the show. Come on down and invite a friend!

Sam A. Torcasio