Scattering Seeds of Hope (Book Review)

Jeremy Marshall was one of the most remarkable men I have ever had the privilege of knowing.

His father, John, was a pastor whose idea of a good summer holiday was to bundle Jeremy, his three sisters, and their mum into an old estate car packed with Bibles to smuggle into Communist Eastern Europe in the 1960s and 70s. Those dangerous childhood sorties seemingly engraved a passion on young Jeremy’s heart to reach people with the gospel – a passion that stayed with him until his death last year in 2023.

Nearly ten years ago, whilst CEO of the UK’s oldest private banks, C. Hoare & Co., Jeremy was diagnosed with incurable cancer and given months to live. In the event, the Lord spared him to use his last decade to become the most natural and effective personal evangelist I have ever known. He was simply full of a heart to pass the good news to others in a natural and winsome manner.

In the ‘extra time’ the Lord granted Jeremy, he spoke at hundreds of church events, sharing his hope in the face of death. In addition, he engaged in dozens of one-on-one personal conversations, particularly sharing the Bible with City business colleagues. To have something to give people, seven years ago he wrote Beyond the Big C, weaving his testimony into a very readable explanation of the gospel.

Scattering Seeds of Hope was written by Jeremy (co-authored by Mary Davis) in his final months. It therefore carries an implicit weight and urgency.

Jeremy rehearses practical, simple ways he learned along the way as he shared the gospel with so many people.

The core chapters of the book focus on power - namely, the power of stories, of questions, of weakness, of social media, of prayer and the Holy Spirit, and of God’s Word. The final chapter is a short but heartwarming encouragement to daily rehearse the miracle of salvation.

The book concludes with a focus on our own stories, with the encouragement that the easiest story to tell is of how you came to Christ, what convinced you to trust him, and why you love him.

Jeremy has left us with a short book full of practical and inspirational ways of sharing the gospel.

The content lends itself to numerous ways of encouraging one another to “scatter gospel seed”. It would make a great short series for small groups or could be read together and discussed at staff or leadership team meetings. And of course, it could simply be put in the hands of individual church members to equip and inspire them to evangelism.