Scattering Seeds of Hope (Paperback) by Mary Davis and Jeremy Marshall

Nearly all of us are discouraged when it comes to evangelism. We love the Lord, and we want others to become Christians, but we are afraid and have many reasons and excuses for why we don’t or can’t share the gospel.

After being diagnosed with incurable cancer in 2013, until his death in 2023, Jeremy told countless people the gospel. Scattering Seeds of Hope explains the method Jeremy found so effective: simply sharing Bible stories, being a good friend and asking questions. There are no long gospel outline to learn, no special techniques to rehearse and absolutely no guilt trips.

What if the secret to effective evangelism is to simply scatter seed abundantly and indiscriminately and watch while God does the rest?

Commendations:

“I’m just so grateful for this book, written by someone who has spent his life in the world of work and yet has such a good grip on the theology that needs to underpin authentic evangelism. The other great thing is that this book is short, so its lessons can be easily digested.” Rico Tice

"Jeremy was humbled, enthused, and empowered by his Lord in equal measure and in the most self-evident way. This was particularly true during Jeremy’s last years that God gave him. Please read his book with an open heart, listening for God’s calling, as Jeremy provides us with the most practical and exciting ways to share our faith." Richard Borgonon

Title

Scattering Seeds of Hope
Author(s)

Mary Davis and Jeremy Marshall
Series

Scattering Seeds
ISBN

9781915705518
Format

Paperback
Publisher

10Publishing
Topic

Evangelism & Mission
Audience

Adults
Pages

128
Published

11/06/2023

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Mary Davis

Mary Davis is a freelance editor and wife of a Church of England minister. She is author of Women of Faith: From the Old Testament and editor of both Christian and secular books.

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Jeremy Marshall

Jeremy Marshall (1963-2023) was the former CEO of C. Hoare & Co, the oldest private bank in the UK. In 2015, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Over the next several years, he turned his illness into an opportunity to share the gospel, which he did through many speaking engagements and by writing books, including Beyond the Big C and Hope in the Face of Suffering. He was married to Jeanette, with whom he had 3 children. Jeremy passed away on August 13th, 2023.

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Overall rating

5.0 based on 2 reviews

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

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.

Trevor Archer, FIEC

Jeremy Marshall's insights and heart are in this book

So who among us are comfortable doing evangelism? ‘Not many of us,’ is probably the answer. Why else would our good friend Jeremy Walker have written a piece in the November edition of ET entitled ‘Scared to evangelise’?

Cue another Jeremy – Jeremy Marshall this time, whose insights and heart are in this book. And we owe a debt to Mary Davis for ensuring that we can have this book in our hands today. Why? Because this Jeremy is now with the Lord, whose name he did so much, while on earth, to make known to sinners.

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