Community Gospel Church, located at 28
Forest Avenue (across from the Finley Middle School), has existed since 1924 when its
first group of believers met on St. Andrew's Lane. Many years later, they bought the
Parsonage on Forest Ave. and in 1962, erected the church building with their own hands on
the corner of Forest Avenue and Elliot Place.
Grace Christian Church was formed in 1987, under the Pastorship of Rev. John Burns, a
native of Glen Cove who studied at Long Island Bible Institute. As an independent, Full
Gospel church, it held weekly services at Norway Hall in Glen Head until 1990, when it was
forced to relocate due to the sale of the building. Seeing their need for a place to meet,
the members of Community Gospel Church invited Grace Christian's congregation to use the
building after their morning services.
After functioning together in the same building for two years, Community Gospel's Pastor,
Rev. Kelly Brake, resigned after being called into the Mission field. The two
congregations began having joint services, and after six months, made a covenant together
to form one church. Currently, services are held on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. and Wednesdays
& Fridays at 7:30 p.m. Pastor Burns and the family of Community Gospel Church extends
an open invitation to all these services.
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1. The scriptures inspired....
Both the Old and New Testaments are verbally inspired of God and the revelation of God to
man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct. (II Tim 3:15-17)
2. The one True God....
The One true God has revealed Himself as the eternally self-existent "I Am", the
creator of heaven and Earth and the redeemer of mankind. He has further revealed Himself
as embodying the principles of relationships and association as Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost. (Deut. 6:4; MT
28:19)
3. The Deity of The Lord Jesus Christ....
- His virgin Birth (Mt.
1:2, 3; Luke 1:31-35)
- His sinless life (Hebrews
7:26; 1 Peter 2:22)
- His miracles (Acts 2:22;
10:38)
- His substitutionary work on the cross (1
Cor 15:3)
- His bodily resurrection from the dead (Mt.
28:6)
- His exaltation to the right hand of God (Acts 1:9-11)
4. The Fall of Man....
Man was created good and upright; For God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness. " However, man by voluntary transgression fell and thereby incurred not
only physical death, but also but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. ( Gen. 1:26, 27 and Romans
5:12)
5. The Salvation of Man....
Man's only hope of salvation and redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, The
Son of God.
- The conditions of salvation - Salvation is received through repentance toward God
and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Ghost, being justified by Grace through Faith, man becomes an heir of God. (Luke 24:45 and John 3:3)
- The evidence of Salvation -The inward evidence is the direct witness of the
Spirit of God (Rom 8:16) The
outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness. (Eph. 4:24 & Titus
2:12)
6. Ordinances of the Church.....
- Baptism in Water - The ordinance of baptism in water is commanded in the scriptures. All
who repent and believe on Christ as Savior and Lord are to be baptized (by full
immersion). Thus they declare to the world that they have died with Christ and that they
also have been raised in newness of life to walk with Him. (Mt.
28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 8:26-40; Rom 6:1-13)
- Holy Communion - The Lord's Supper, consisting of the elements of bread and the fruit of
the vine is the symbol of Communion in the Spirit that we share with the Lord and his body
and is to remind us of our commitment to do as He did in giving ourselves for others
"til He come." (I Cor.
11:23-32)
7. Baptism in the Holy Spirit....
All believers are entitled to and should ardently seek the "promise of the
Father," The Baptism in the Holy Ghost and fire, according to the words of our Lord.
This baptism was the normal experience of all in the early Church. With it comes the
ability to be a witness unto the Lord by having the power to lay down one's life to do the
will of the Father evidenced by speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance.
This experience is subsequent to and different from the new birth. (Acts 1:4-8; 8:38;
10:44, 46)
8. Sanctification....
Sanctification is the process of separation from that which is evil and unto God's
character and holiness. By the power of the Holy Ghost we are able to obey the command, Be
ye Holy for I Am Holy." (1
Peter 1:15,16)
9. The Church
The Church is the body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine
appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission. Each Believer, born of the
Spirit of God is an integral part of the general Assembly of the Church of the
"Firstborn" which are written in Heaven. (Eph 1:22, 23;
Heb.12:23)
10. The Ministry....
The Ministry is that part of the body that has been raised up by God and chosen for the
purpose of leading and perfecting believers. The perfecting process begins at the born
again experience and culminates in the attaining unto a perfect man, "The fullness
and Stature of Christ." (Eph.
4:7-16)
11. Divine Healing....
Divine healing is an integral part of the Gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided
for in the atonement, and is a privilege of all believers. (Is. 53:4-5, Mt. 8:16, 17)
12. The Blessed Hope....
The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation together
with those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord is soon-to-be and is the
blessed hope of the Church. (1 Thess. 4:16-18;
Romans 8:23)
13. The Final Judgement....
There will be a final judgment in which the wicked dead will be raised and judged
according to their works. Whosoever is not found in the Lamb's book of life, together with
the devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, will be cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone-the second death. (Rev.
20:10-15)
14. The New Heaven and the New Earth....
We according to His promise look for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. (2 Peter 3:13)
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John Burns is an ordained minister whose preaching, teaching
and music ministry has truly been blessed by God. He is currently the pastor of Community
Gospel Church in Glen Cove, New York. He is not the first member of the Burns family to
serve in the Glen Cove Community, as his great-uncle, James Burns, was the first mayor of
Glen Cove after it achieved city status.
John is a person whom the Lord has blessed in many ways and whose talents are as varied as
his music. His many years of experience in the secular music business in addition to 17
years of music ministry have enabled him to reach thousands of people with the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.
John has been a singer/musician/songwriter since the 1960's. His wide variety of musical
styles have taken him through Blues, rock, jazz, classical, and more. He studied guitar
with jazz great Joe Monk and spent 4 years studying music theory and composition at Queens
college in the 1970's. His musical resume during that decade ranges from appearing in a
Queens symphony performance of Beethovens's Ninth Symphony to sharing a concert bill with
jazz legends Chick Corea, Stanley Clark, Al Dimeola and Larry Coryell.
When John accepted the Lord in the late 1970's, his life was changed forever. Feeling the
Lord's call upon his heart to preach the Gospel, he left Queens college in 1980 to attend
Long Island Bible Institute. In that same year , John also formed the music ministry, "Newbourne," as a vehicle for spreading the
Gospel.
During the 1980's, John and his colleagues saw God work in a variety of ways through the
ministry. They appeared in a wide range of places throughout the tri-state area: outdoor
concerts in Manhattan (Times Square, Penn Plaza and Central Park), East New York and
Harlem, New Rochelle, Long Island and areas of New Jersey. They also appeared at many
colleges and churches, as well as in concerts with other Christian artists, such as David
Meese. John's music has been heard on WLIX and WWDJ. His records and tapes with Newbourne
have blessed and inspired many people over the past 17 years.
While John's duties as Pastor have taken precedence over the time he can spend with his
own music, he is still active with the church music ministeries, leading the choir and
worship groups. He is also working on his first solo album and is writing a book on Music
Ministry that shares his own experiences in the ministry, as well as discussing the
principles of annointed music and the attitude of the music minister's heart towards God.
John is married to Robin, his lovely wife of 18 years. The Lord has blessed them with
three children, Jayson (who designed this web site), Rachel and Tricia.
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